Proverbs 2:1-4 tells us what we need to do about wisdom:
1MY SON, if you will receive my words and treasure up my commandments within you, 2Making your ear attentive to skillful and godly Wisdom and inclining and directing your heart and mind to understanding [applying all your powers to the quest for it]; 3Yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4If you seek [Wisdom] as for silver and search for skillful and godly Wisdom as for hidden treasures,
The word "receive" in verse 1 is the Hebrew word, "laqach", which means: to take, to get, to lay hold of, to seize, to acquire, to snatch, to take away, to take possession of, to capture. Those are some pretty forceful words! That is how we are to go about getting the Word of God inside of us! Then we are to treat His commandments as a precious treasure! Verse 2 tells us to MAKE our ears pay attention to wisdom from God's Word and apply everything that is within us to the quest, or search, for wisdom through the Word of God! Verses 3-4 tell us to cry out for wisdom! Be vocal about it! James tells us to ASK for wisdom! (James 1:5). We are to seek for wisdom as we would for silver we wanted to find! We are told to search for wisdom as we would for the most valuable treasure we could ever imagine! What are the results of doing these things? Let's look at verses 5-6:
5Then you will understand the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of [our omniscient] God. 6For the Lord gives skillful and godly Wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
This says that at the time that we DO those things above, then we will understand the fear of the Lord. Remember from yesterday's reading that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom! the Lord is the source of all wisdom and there is NO real wisdom apart from Him! Then verses 7-8 say:
7He hides away sound and godly Wisdom and stores it for the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him); He is a shield to those who walk uprightly and in integrity,8That He may guard the paths of justice; yes, He preserves the way of His saints.
God hides His wisdom within His Word. He doesn't hide it FROM us, but rather, FOR us! He hides it in the Word for us to find out! Remember that the righteous are those who have received Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and personal Savior, being made in right standing with God through the precious Blood of Jesus! His purpose? To guard and protect our way! We do OUR part and God will most definitely do HIS part! AMEN!
In John 12 we see Jesus returning to Bethany, to the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. There's Martha in her old familiar spot in the kitchen! This is also when Mary takes the very expensive ointment, meant for burial, and anoints Jesus with it. Judas complains, not because he really cared about the poor, but because he wanted the money that the ointment was worth to be put into the "bag", the ministry treasury, so he would more to pilfer from!
Then we see Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem and the people praising Him as He went. A short time later some of these very people would be crying to have Jesus crucified! It was amazing to me to stand on the Mount of Olives and look down into the city and the Temple Mount and imagine what Jesus must have seen and felt when He did the same! Our Lord is a wonderful and awesome God! AMEN!
In 1 Samuel 30 we have one of my favorite Old Testament stories! David and his men find that the Amalekites have raided their town, burned it and taken their wives and children captive. What is the very first reaction of the mighty man of valour who had slain his tens of thousands? Verse 4:
4Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.
Oh, so David was human after all? Oh yeah! But he repents (changes his thinking to agree with God) and encourages himself in the Lord again. He seeks the Lord's direction in what to do and then obeys the instructions of the Lord. If you find yourself doing what David did and start crying over your situation, then KEEP doing what David did and start encouraging yourself in the Lord! Remind yourself of all the times He delivered you in the past and expect Him to do it again! AMEN! So David did, God did and everyone was blessed, especially those who had "stayed with the stuff"! I LOVE the way that David handled this situation! Those who go and spread the Gospel around the world are blessed of God and will receive rewards in Heaven for their obedience to God's Word. Those who stayed and prayed and paid for them to go will also receive the same rewards for doing THEIR PART! Let's encourage each other to fulfill the ministry God gave to each of us individually and we'll all share in the rewards! AMEN!
We see the death of Saul and his sons in the next chapter. Not a pleasant thing to read about, but one we knew was coming. Now David will take over and everything will be FANTASTIC! Right? Oh-oh! Stay tuned!
Shalom in Him!
