When the idea of obtaining abundance is only about money in our minds, we are not willing to go through the challenges it takes to access it. Biblical abundance is more about wisdom, revelation, understanding, people, and the fear of the Lord than it is about money.

I sat with a group of older adults the other day and listened to them tell stories about their neighborhood. They shared the joys, the pains, the challenges and the blessings. Their love for the land was obvious and their wisdom was incredible. I learned that there are three generations on the land in this neighborhood right now. This identification brought about the declaration that they live on legacy land.

When we realized the legacy land they are living on, we spoke about the wisdom that comes from the elders on the land and the need for those who are younger than them to unlock the wisdom they carry by honoring them. Honor is the key to unlocking wisdom which is what real wealth is all about.

Sitting with them enriched me in so many ways, then when I was praying Psalm 66 this morning, it reminded me that their wisdom did not come without a price. “For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.”

To obtain the wisdom of these men and women, you must go through some things, but what they went through made them wise. One woman, Mary, told of how she was not going to let her husband die, so she decreed over him the word of God with authority. We all rejoiced as she shared how the next morning he was sitting in the chair in ICU not knowing what happened, but she knew.

Friends, we need to unlock the wealth called wisdom in the generation above us. They have walked through some things that have made them wealthy in wisdom and our honor of them will unlock the treasure they are and will enrich us in ways we did not realize we were poor. No wonder the Bible says, sit with the wise and you will become wise. I am richer today than yesterday because of this council of elders in Waco, TX.