Key Verse: “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes
quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.” (v.11)
The riverwalk was still shaking off the night. Early sun skimmed the water, turning it into rippled steel. A vendor down the path roasted nuts, the smell sweet and almost convincing—like a promise that looks better than it fills you.
That felt familiar.
Gideon and I had been here yesterday too, except yesterday we’d come straight from a Multi-Level-Marketing seminar downtown. Fluorescent lights. Thumping music. Words like momentum, leverage, financial freedom fired at us like confetti cannons.
We hadn’t told Solomon we were going. We’d walked out buzzing, half-hyped, half-suspicious. I’d barely slept. Gideon hadn’t either—we’d texted back and forth until midnight, circling the same question: What if this actually works?
Solomon was already waiting when we arrived. He sat on the low stone wall like he owned the morning, handmade boots crossed at the ankle. When he leaned forward, I caught the faint cedar scent again. He tapped the stone once, his signature hello.
“You both look like men who stayed up bargaining with an idea,” he said, gently amused.
Gideon snorted. “That obvious?”
Solomon smiled. “Sit.”
Gideon didn’t hover like a guest anymore. He’d been with us for days now. He took a spot near the railing, coffee untouched, staring at the river like it might explain where things went wrong—or right.
“Today,” Solomon said, “I continue something I’ve been pressing on since chapter thirteen began. Pride. Teachability. Discipline. Outcomes.” He paused. “Proverbs 13:10–18.”
He let that sit before going on. “In this passage, I talk about how discipline and hard work often feel painful but pay dividends in the long run. And I contrast two ways of building a life—fast and loud, or slow and real.”
He slid his weathered leather notebook onto his knee and opened it. Inside, a simple sketch: two piles of coins. One tall and skinny. One low and wide.
Gideon leaned in. We exchanged a puzzled look—did he somehow know?
He slowed his voice and quoted the line we’d both been avoiding since last night:
“Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.”
Solomon tapped the tall pile... “THIS is the promise you heard yesterday.” Somehow, he knew! Then he tapped the wider one... “THIS is the process I keep returning to.”
The river seemed to hush around it. How did he know?
Gideon stared at the page. “They kept saying speed was the proof,” he said. “That slow meant you didn’t believe enough.”
Solomon nodded. “Shortcuts always accuse patience of cowardice.”
I felt my jaw tighten. “But isn’t there wisdom in moving fast? In catching the window before it closes?”
“There can be,” Solomon said. “When the window exists. What I’m challenging is speed without substance. In my writing here, I’m not just talking about money. I’m talking about formation. Character. Skill. Habits.”
He added small dots to the wide pile. “Little by little,” he said. “Gathered. Not grabbed. Skill built through repetition. Spending kept humble. Saving made boring. And yes—over time—compound interest doing its quiet work.”
Gideon laughed once, sharp and tired. “No one showed us that slide.”
“They wouldn’t,” Solomon said kindly. “It doesn’t sell excitement. It grows fruit.”
Gideon’s shoulders slumped. “They told us to bet on ourselves,” he said. “So I did. Maxed a card. Called it seed money.” He rubbed his face. “Kept thinking this would fix things.”
Solomon didn’t rush him. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” he said, nodding toward the rest of the passage, “but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. There’s a difference between hope fed by effort and hope fed by hype.”
I swallowed. “So the slow grind is… moral?”
Solomon smiled. “It’s aligned. Pride wants applause now. Wisdom is willing to be unseen. Discipline feels like loss at first, but it’s actually protection.”
He hesitated, then shared something personal—rare, and quiet. “There was a season when my name opened doors too fast. Wealth arrived quicker than wisdom. I learned that speed can hide cracks. Time reveals them.” He closed the notebook. “Time also heals them, if you let it.”
Gideon stood slowly. “I think I need to make one honest call today,” he said. “No pitch. No spin.” He glanced at us. “I’ve got a skill I stopped working on because it wasn’t flashy.”
When he walked away, the space he left felt intentional—like something heavy had finally been set down.
Solomon turned to me. “Here’s what I want you to keep,” he said. “Pride rushes. Wisdom listens. Discipline looks boring until it wins. And gathering little by little? That’s how lives last.”
I stayed by the river after he left, watching the current do its patient work. Slow didn’t feel like failure anymore. It felt like truth.
What? Proverbs 13:10–18 teaches that shortcuts fueled by pride fade fast, while disciplined, patient effort leads to lasting good.
So What? In a world selling speed and spectacle, the slow grind forms character and builds real wealth—financially and otherwise.
Now What? Choose one skill to practice daily and set aside a small, automatic amount to save this week—start gathering little by little today.
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