If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure ... - Proverbs 2:4
When things get busy like this, it's very easy for me to jump out of bed and get straight to work. A consequence is that it becomes more difficult to spend time in God's Word and in prayer.
During an expansion of our church, my friend Mike would go out at the end of the day and literally dig through the construction dumpster looking for any type of metal. Amused, I gave him a hard time until he explained that his previous "trash collection" yielded him $67 at the local metal recycling center. A week later, a friend of mine was throwing out a weight bench. I, now well aware of this little treasure trove of metal recycling, gladly took it off his hands. I spent time disassembling the bench and loading the weights in my Explorer. I collected a few more metal items that were being thrown away. Then I drove to the recycling center early one morning. Now, I know this isn't much, but that $36.75 I earned felt like I'd struck gold. "Free lunch today!" "What else can I recycle?"
Just yesterday I read these words in Proverbs, "if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure." It was referring to wisdom and understanding, which comes from the Word of God. It resonated in my soul. I thought of how I would search for scrap metal as a little hidden treasure. I would expend energy to find it and collect it. I would wonder if anyone else was throwing away perfectly good metal. Oh, the madness! I think you can see where I'm going with this metaphor.
So, what are you passionate about finding? Praise from your friends or peers? Recognition for all those long hours you've been putting in?
For what are you searching and seeking? A raise? More benefits? A spouse? A better technical system?
Are you hungry enough to slow down long enough to listen?
I'm not suggesting that these are all bad. However, I had to stop to ask myself, "By comparison, of all of the things you seek in life ... how hungry are you for gaining wisdom and understanding from God? How hungry are you for fresh Bread from Scripture? Are you hungry enough to slow down long enough to listen?"
If we find ourselves being too busy to spend time hearing what God has for us in Scripture, then we must act. We must rearrange, reprioritize, delegate, or say "No." Or perhaps stop being too lazy to do something. Seek it out like silver. Search for it like hidden treasure. It holds wisdom and understanding. It is living and active. It is the very words of our living God.
