He must have felt like a genius when he chose to rely on his strength and wisdom to run his life.
I am talking about the rich young man that Jesus talks about in the holy scriptures.
He had entrepreneurial ideas and the principles of prosperity, which are good in themselves and essential for profitable earthly living. God expects us to dominate the earth by these means.
While the young man operated with the powers of these necessary virtues, he lacked God, and by so doing, he relativized the absolute. The knowledge and experience of God is not optional for a wise creature who is not only building for this life but is desirous of being at peace and in prosperity in eternity. In relativizing the absolute, he absolutized the relative, which is the material prosperity. Don’t allow that temptation into your life.
Don’t relativize the absolute. There is no other option aside from God. You cannot replace God with technology, money, spouse, cronies, material possessions, etc. God is the absolute. Don’t relativize Him.
I can imagine the young rich man feeling like a genius who didn’t need God. We are told that he lost his life the night that his folly came to a head. Many persons will not lose their lives this way but will face eternal death eventually.
Prioritize God and His experience in your life so you can live a profitable earthly life and live with Him eternally when your life on earth is over.