Skeleton key: Three big IFs

Imagine this scene with me:

After spending the better part of a week in Tel Aviv, you’ve had your fill of unsuccessful discussions and dead-end conversations.  So far, you have found only scant details on the whereabouts of the Book of Life.

”When all else fails, go to the library”, you mumble to yourself as you walk into Beit Ariela library.  However, you know that somewhere in their collection of books, journals, and newspapers could be some information to guide your next steps. 

Your initial search turns up several books worth searching through, so you gather your first stack and settle into a quiet corner to do some focused reading.  About half the books in your stack have a thick coating of dust, betraying how long it has been since anyone looked at them.

Several hours later, towards the back of your third book on ancient manuscripts, you find three small folded sheets of paper.  Each one appears to be a handwritten letter from a father to his son.  The age of the paper, along with their crumpled sides, suggests they could have been used as bookmarks the last time this dusty book had been opened.  The first letter’s text reads:

My son,
If you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
             listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding;
furthermore,
if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,
if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure,

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up success for the upright;
He is a shield for those who live with integrity
              so that He may guard the paths of justice
              and protect the way of His faithful followers.

Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity – every good path.

The letter is signed by “A. Danling”.  The name sounds familiar, but you’re not sure where you’ve heard it before.  However, the letter’s formatting stands out to you, and you notice how it helps drive the point that the father is making to his son.

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Observation of the Biblical text is a skill us modern believers need as well.  The text above is from Proverbs 2:1-9, and right off the bat, you’ll see that Solomon leads with three big IF statements:

IF you accept…
IF you call out…
IF you seek…

What we can gather from this is that the pursuit of wisdom must be an intentional choice.  It’s not enough to agree that wisdom is important…we also have to decide to take the necessary actions to find it.  Solomon tells his son that wisdom isn’t going to just dawn on him; instead, it must be prioritized and pursued.  You must seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure – how much focus and effort do treasure hunters put into their search?  That’s what is needed for us to find and apply God’s wisdom.

Fortunately, Solomon also included a couple of “then” statements, to help his son see how his efforts to find wisdom will benefit him in life.

After prioritizing and searching for wisdom, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God – which means you’ll have the skeleton key from Proverbs 1:7 in hand:

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Next we see that the Lord’s gift of wisdom will act as a shield, bringing success and protection as we navigate life and live by God’s principles.  The good path we desire is available to us, as we skillfully apply wisdom’s lessons.

So the questions we must ask ourselves are pretty straight-forward.  We would all agree that wisdom is an important pursuit, but what are we doing to seek it out? 

What steps are we taking to find it?
How often do we ask God for it?
Are we daily looking to the Bible to find it?

If wisdom is our treasure, then let’s prioritize being a treasure hunter.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Buyers vs Sellers

The concept of buying and selling is inescapable in our culture.  There are shops set up everywhere we look, trying to entice us with items we may (or may not) need.  Radio, TV, and internet commercials are strategically placed to get a product in front of those most likely to be persuaded to buy them.  Even if you can’t afford to pay for something at the moment, there are traps…I mean, offers…to help you instantly increase your purchase ability.

But when you get right down to it, everything has an associated cost.  Even if we’re not talking about money, we view our time and effort in terms of being “spent” or “sold”.  We judge ourselves based upon how well we believe we have “spent” our time.  That’s also the concept behind getting paid for doing work.  I agree to “sell” you my time and efforts in exchange for $10/hour, $20/hour, or $100/hour…all depending upon the value you and I agree to for my labors.

The exchange of money or time or effort for something else comes down to a question of value.  And what we, as individuals, place value on will vary greatly.  How we perceive the value of an item or an experience is inherently subjective…and then throw in the clamoring of the marketplace, the influence of social media, on top of our own inner monologues…it’s easy to become overwhelmed with all of our choices and options.

As always, God has stepped in to give us direction.  Toward the end of the book of Proverbs, we find this statement:

Proverbs 23:23
Buy – and do not sell – truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

The proverb has a genuine wisdom-feel to it, does it not?  Whether you read it or hear someone say it, it’s one of those statements where we can all solemnly nod in agreement…and then move on with our lives…

But how do we actually apply this concept of buy and selling when it comes to these elements? 

The easier of the two is the idea of buying.  So much so that you can probably answer right away.  The first way we can buy truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding is with our time.  Do we spend our time securing the truth, seeking wisdom and instruction, or prioritizing understanding?  Another piece of purchase power we have is our finances.  Would our spending habits reflect the pursuit of these things?

The idea of selling can be a bit of a head-scratcher until we remember that the act of selling is just like buying – it is an exchange of something we have in order to obtain something else.  Looking at our actions, do we find times where we’ve decided that life would be a little more convenient if we glossed over the truth?  Have we ignored wisdom because we really want the shiny object in front of us?  Have we replaced instruction and understanding with so-called “blissful” ignorance?

Additionally, whatever we would exchange truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding for would not be worth as much as those elements.  Could money or fame or more shiny stuff really make you better off if they were purchased at the cost of our truthfulness or good judgment?  In the long run, I think not…

The worst Biblical example of selling something valuable comes in Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome.  Paul is stating that those who reject God and His truth are living under His wrath now, in this present life.  In the midst of his discussion of those who make self-centered, unchecked-passion-driven choices, Paul gives this selling analogy:

Romans 1:25
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator…

What we prioritize and how we spend our time, talent, and treasure matters greatly.  Solomon wants us to recognize it and make choices accordingly:

Proverbs 23:23
Buy – and do not sell – truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

Keep Pressing,
Ken