A few months ago, my mother-in-law bought me a book. It's a book about a musician that I have always admired and respected. She knows I have a lot of books and love to read. When she gave me the book, I joked with her, "You know, it's a little dangerous to try to buy a book for me."
"Why's that?," she asked.
"Because if I really want to read something, odds are I've probably already purchased it."
We laughed about that, because we both know it's true. I have pretty simple tastes, but if something truly catches my attention, it isn't too much longer before it's in my possession. And when it comes to knowledge, if I want to know something, I'm going to do whatever it takes to learn it. I think we all demonstrate that same capacity to one degree or another. If something is genuinely important to us, we'll do whatever it takes to get it. In fact, if you take a quick moment to analyze your life, you'll see that you're already pursuing what's important to you.
Solomon elaborates on that concept in Proverbs 2. He applies that approach to the subject of the wisdom of God. If the wisdom of God is important to you, you'll call out for it. You'll eagerly pursue it. You'll give up other things in order to get it. You'll plead with the Lord to bless you with it.
So how important is godly wisdom to us? Are we doing what we need in order to get it?
I. Is the treasure you're seeking and the treasure you actually need the same thing?
"My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." (Proverbs 2:1-5)
How much of your life is being spent digging for some kind of treasure?
Sometimes I feel guilty about complaining because I know my life isn't anywhere near as difficult as the lives some of my ancestors lived. On my hardest days, I often think about my great-grandfather, Joseph Lewis, and the fact that he spent nearly every day of his adult life working in a coal mine. There were many days he didn't see sunlight because his task was to pick at veins of coal deep in the ground. And sadly, he lost his life in a cave in.
Solomon speaks of the treasure we're invited to dig for in this passage. He teaches us that we're to receive the words and wisdom of God like the great gift that they are. We're to treasure His commandments and seek to know even more about what He's communicating.
In fact, we're told to make this a matter of prayer. We're invited to call out to the Lord for the kind of supernatural insight only He can fully supply. If this becomes the pattern of our life, we'll be amazed at the good that comes from it. In the process of seeking the Lord's counsel and internalizing the wisdom He makes available to us in His word, we'll gain a deeper level of reverence for Him and we'll know Him in a full and meaningful way.
With this in mind, I love what Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:6. In that passage He says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." The wisdom of this world cannot satisfy our hearts, but the righteousness of Christ that we receive as a gift through faith in Christ, will satisfy the longings of our soul. And with His righteousness, we likewise receive His wisdom. He who lives within us offers us His counsel.
Admittedly, I have spent multiple seasons of my life seeking after things that I mistakenly thought would satisfy that longing. Thankfully, the Lord has been showing me that He alone is sufficient. The treasure that I was seeking and the treasure I actually needed weren't the same thing. But now my heart is convinced that in Christ I find all I truly need. Jesus is the wisdom of God personified and He offers Himself to us freely.
II. God is guarding your life in multiple ways through multiple means
"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways." (Proverbs 2:6-15)
When our kids were little, we lived in a home with a nice wooden staircase. I thought it was lovely, but it was also a little dangerous. I went sliding down that thing, unintentionally, many times in my socks. And because our house was full of people, it wasn't always practical to have a gate in place to block it. Thankfully, we had our son Jay who, even at a very young age, was always willing to stand guard and legitimately protect his younger siblings from getting too close to it or falling down that staircase.
Have you ever paused to thank God for the ways He's intentionally guarding and protecting your life? Can you see the safety measures and guide-rails He's surrounding you with to keep you from falling?
Solomon gives us a glimpse of multiple ways the Lord is guarding us. He tells us that God guards us by giving us wisdom. We receive that wisdom as the Holy Spirit speaks to our conscience, and enlightens us through His word. We're also told that the Lord is sovereignly watching over the path we take. He shields us from evil. He protects us from perverseness. He delivers us from those who want us to join them on a crooked path.
Knowing that the Lord is guarding our lives should certainly be a source of comfort and confidence for us all, but it doesn't excuse us from paying attention to the steps we take or the way we walk our walk. We have been granted the liberty to embrace His protective guidance or try to live our lives outside of those rails. This passage shows us the wisdom of embracing the framework of God's protective care.
III. There is a high degree of similarity between spiritual and marital adultery
"So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life." (Proverbs 2:16-19)
I once heard a man state that when he was a child, his grandmother didn't want him to read some of the things Solomon wrote in the Bible, particularly when he brought up subjects like adultery and other issues related to marriage and intimacy. She told him he should wait until he was older to read them.
I do find it rather interesting how frequently subjects like adultery and unfaithfulness come up in Scripture. The history of humanity shows us that this is one of the primary areas of temptation we struggle with. In fact, when you take a look at the lives of leaders who eventually disqualify themselves in leadership, it frequently comes back to either their misuse of money or their lack of integrity in regard to sexual ethics.
And while infidelity within a marriage is certainly a big deal, there's a realm of unfaithfulness that the Lord often speaks about in the same manner. You may or may not have been unfaithful to your spouse, but all of us have struggled to be faithful to God. This has been the struggle of humanity from our earliest days. It was because of our willingness to sever our relationship with God and live unfaithfully that the Father sent us Jesus. Our relationship with the Lord needs to be restored and reconciled, and that's only accomplished through Christ.
"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)
When we examine Solomon's words in Proverbs 2, he shows us that giving in to the temptation to be unfaithful only leads to ruin. Marital adultery and spiritual adultery both seem enticing and tempting in the moment, but they both lead to ruin and regret in the end. Solomon's words are strong counsel to us, "for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed."
IV. Build your life on a foundation of faith, righteousness, and integrity
"So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it." (Proverbs 2:20-22)
I'm grateful that through Christ, we don't need to remain on the path of unrighteousness and death. In Christ, we receive life. In Christ, we're made upright, and we're given an inheritance in the kingdom of God. As Solomon says, "the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it." The wicked who persist in their unbelief are cut off from the eternal goodness of God, but those who have faith in Christ will enjoy a secure inheritance in His presence forever.
This passage forces me to ask the question, "On what foundation am I building my life?" When you look at the example that's being held out for us to emulate, we're shown a person who chooses to build their life on a foundation of faith, righteousness, and integrity. As they trust in the Lord and receive His wisdom, they're shown that this is the right foundation to lay.
But some people build their lives on something much shakier. I won't use names, but I recently read an article about an influential person who is now deceased. During the course of his life, his public persona gave off the impression that he was a man of character, but since his death, it's starting to become clear that he may have been leading a double life. It drives me crazy when I learn of stories like that, but it's so common and we need to admit that we could easily find ourselves making the same mistake if we attempt to build our lives on a worldly or wicked foundation.
Is your life being built on the foundation of Jesus Christ who will foster faith, righteousness, and integrity, or are you living a double life, built on a shaky foundation that's bound to eventually crumble?
The wisdom and righteousness of Christ matters. It's of greater value than the treasures this world tries to convince us to value. If what Christ offers you is valuable to you, you'll do what you need to do to get it. Are you calling out to Him for it? How badly do you want the wisdom He offers? How intensely do you want Him to guide, direct, and protect your life?
© John Stange, 2020
