Proverbs 2:1-5 

¹My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, ²turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—³indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, ⁴and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, ⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Snow Maze

Last winter, what particular activity did you try explore for the first time? Have you been to the snow maze yet? Have you been to Saint Adolphe? It’s a municipality in Southern Manitoba about 10 minutes drive south of Winnipeg perimeter highway!

Did you know that the largest snow maze Guinness Book of World Record is built in Saint Adolphe, Manitoba? Do you like to be amazed while trying to find your way out of the snow maze? Try the snow maze and you will be amazed or even confused! The giant snow maze at Saint Adolphe has passages and walls built out of white snow.

What can be worse than confusion in the maze? Careless individuals could be confused and possibly, not able to find their way home when they stroll or wander deep into the forest or in the desert. It is not fun to be lost in the wilderness, right?

Have you been confused before or lost in your journey? Were you trapped in maze-like problem before? What maze-like problem have you survived?

Problem is like challenging maze. It can make us feel lost and we want to get out from it very quickly. How did you get out from your problem? Do you believe that God helped you? What did he do to help you? Jesus Christ has declared his very purpose of his coming in John 10:10; ¹⁰I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

What can Christ do to help us? He is the Life; He gives life in its fullness. He is the Way to fullness of life. He has the best strategy to overcome challenges along the path to fullness of life.

We can experience fullness of life that he offers if we accept his instructions with sincerity and seriously follow them. It’s a crucial necessary requisite.

1. Requisite

¹My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, ²turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—³indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, ⁴and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure.

By faith, we accept godly instruction and keep them in mind; we listen attentively and practically apply what we understand. By faith, we desire insight and understanding from God. Listen: When a word or phrase is repeated in the Scripture, serious attention to the lesson is required. It’s very precious lesson that should not be ignored.

In our passage, the term “if” is mentioned not only twice but thrice, three times.

Why was the term “if” emphasized? They are indispensable stipulations and crucial demands that are necessary requisites or obligatory conditions to expected results.

Likewise, faith and trust in his words are requisites to find knowledge of God.

The Spirit of God Almighty inspired King Solomon to write the Book of Proverbs. By faith, we believe that reality. So, how can we accept and store up godly commands within us? How do we do that? We pray for his help. His Holy Spirit inspires us to listen attentively to godly wisdom and He helps us understand godly instruction. And, He guides us follow practically what we learn from him with devotion and cheerful faithfulness.

It says, “if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure.” Why do we need to call out for godly insight and cry aloud for understanding? Why do we need to look for insight as if insight is as precious as silver? And, why do we need to search for understanding as if understanding is like a hidden treasure? Why such essential requisite is very important?

Silver is very essential just as money is very essential to lifestyle. If silver or money is essential to lifestyle, godly insight is very essential to godly lifestyle. If we intentionally search for hidden treasure, we must intentionally search godly knowledge as well.

Only by faith in God that we can seriously believe what it declares in Job 12:13. ¹³To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.

To gain insight and understanding from God, we cry our heart out with sincerity. We’ve got to be serious and have single-mindedness of devotion to find insight and gain understanding. It is a requisite; sincerity and seriousness are our best option.

Listen carefully and follow godly instruction and you won’t be wasting efforts.

Old Enough

In an Asian TV show “Old Enough,” very young toddlers were instructed to go out and run for errands in the neighborhood. At one episode, a mother instructed her little boy to buy few groceries. The boy was shown carrying two bags of groceries in his both hands. Under a scorching heat of summer sun, the boy walked home for few kilometers.

Half of the way, his hands got tired carrying groceries. He sat down to rest on the side walk curb; and then, he remembered his mother’s instruction, “Place the groceries inside your back pack.” He put the groceries inside his back pack; and, he was delighted that, it was much easier for him to carry the groceries. So, he ran home in excitement.

Listen: How do we enjoy Christian lifestyle? We follow godly principles religiously in whatever we do in this life. It’s vital to spiritual maturity to distinguish good from evil.

Godly principles will lead to fullness of life; and, God does not tell everything we need to do at one time. He only gives godly instructions we can understand and follow.

It says in Hebrews 5:13-14, ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Are you spiritual infant? Basic biblical doctrines are spiritual milk for spiritual infants. If you train yourself and follow godly principles, you grow mature spiritually.

Apostle Paul wrote a very timely rebuke in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, ¹But as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?

Spiritually infant Corinthian believers quarreled if they should follow Paul, Peter or Apollos. But, with godly knowledge and respect of God, we follow Jesus Christ.

2. Respect

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

If you have grown mature spiritually, you have gained godly knowledge; you are ready for spiritual solid food. How is that? Spiritually matured believers understood that the phrase “fear of the Lord” pertains to reverent respect of God; they can distinguished that “to fear the Lord” is not about terrific dreadful disgust of the authority of the Lord.

As we mature spiritually, we can sense reverent fear or respect of God and we desire with earnestness and sincerity to find godly knowledge. Without respect of God and godly knowledge, we accept that it feels like we are lost in the wilderness of problem.

Crash Landing

In the TV Show “Crash Landing,” an adventurer was paragliding when caught in a tornado. She found herself hanging on a tree in a very unfamiliar forest. A stranger helped her, but she tried to escape and got lost. Fortunately, she followed a path that brought her to a village where she met again the stranger who helped her earlier.

Do you feel like you are caught in a tornado of problem? What should you do? When we are situated in a very unfamiliar situation, we try our best to escape from it. But if it seems like we are just circling around without end, what should we do then?

By faith, we trust that the Lord guides us in every step we make. We pray for understanding how to navigate the challenge of life that he situates us in. Sometimes, we sense the need to stop when we don’t know which direction to go. God might be showing a detour to the path of fullness of life. King Solomon advised, ¹My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, ²turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—³indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, ⁴and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, ⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.  

If you believe God knows best for you, listen and carefully follow godly principles.

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