The world goes after gold. But the gold a Christian seeks is the wisdom and knowledge of God. I should go hard after such wisdom. Sadly, it is the tendency of my flesh to undervalue the wisdom and knowledge of God, and overvalue things that are easier to be had. No wonder the book which is so chock-full of wisdom begins with repeated exhortations to heed wisdom’s call and resist the tendency toward naiveté and simplicity. Neglect and complacency are the enemies of wisdom and understanding. To take my ease and be satisfied with my current understanding is a death knell for my soul. Rather I am called to a pursuit, a search, a quest for the wisdom and knowledge of God. To give up on this hunt is to heed the call of fools, which ends up in destruction. But to pursue wisdom and explore out its depths is to inherit treasures far beyond any earthly find.

I remember, as a kid, watching a television show about the discovery of a sunken treasure. From the ocean floor were brought up all sorts of valuable treasures. Gold coins, precious jewels, rare artifacts – they were worth millions. How exciting it was to imagine discovering such treasures. Afterward, I would pretend I was diving for these treasures as I swam down to the depths of my swimming pool. The show was exciting in part because of how hard these treasure hunters had to look in order to find it. They tried and failed many times before they hit the mother lode.

But no sunken treasure has enough gold coins to compare with the value of wisdom. Yet shinny things are often much more enticing than knowledge and understanding. God knows that simpletons like me are easily enamored with golden trinkets and so He calls out with a loud voice – “wake up! Don’t be fooled by gold – seek wisdom, get understanding, buy it and do not sell, keep it and it will bring joy and life.”

Thankfully, God’s call has awakened in me a desire to heed the warning and seek wisdom. But where am I to find it? There are many possible sources for attaining wisdom – many voices, many scholars and teachers. If I go to a bookstore to search for wisdom there are thousands of books willing to sell me their insights. But which of them should I choose? They all sound wise. They all offer plausible ideas. How am I to know which is true wisdom and which contain folly? Again, thanks to God, I have a guide, a rule directing me to the right place to dig for wisdom – “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

This bit of knowledge is very helpful, but I have another problem. There is a deep chasm preventing the progress of my quest for wisdom. The problem is that I don’t have the fear of the Lord. Honestly, I can say I want it, because it is right and true and holds great promise. I might even say that by the grace of God, I have a degree of the fear of the Lord. But how much do I truly tremble at His Word? Isaiah and John saw the glory of God and fell down flat, undone. Job was rebuked by the Lord and he repented in sackcloth and ashes, utterly silenced. My fear of the Lord is nowhere near theirs, and so I ought to be sober about how far I have entered into the beginning of wisdom.

And the fear of the Lord is just the beginning of wisdom. Not only is attaining the fear of the Lord not assumed or easy to attain, but getting it is only the beginning of wisdom – not its end or breadth, or depth, but just the door leading into a vast, infinite universe of the delightful wisdom and knowledge of God.

Therefore, while I have a map for wisdom, with the fear of the Lord as the “X” marking the spot to dig, the obtaining of wisdom is hardly automatic. Just because I know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom does not mean that I have much of it. It only means I know where to begin to look for it.

Am I making this too hard? Am I making wisdom out to be too hard to attain? After all why would God commend and command wisdom and then make it almost impossible to find? Has God taken something so essential to my life, so essential to my joy and concealed it? Indeed I believe He has.

“But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.”
Job 28:12-21

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”
Proverbs 25:2

“At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”
Luke 10:21

“But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;”
1 Corinthians 2:7

So no, I don’t think I’m making too much of the concealed nature of true wisdom. It remains true that the very wisdom I need for life and happiness, the wisdom that is necessary to avoid destruction and despair, is beyond my reach.

In the gospel, however it has been made known. Paul speaks of his ministry as the administration of a mystery. He spoke of his preaching the gospel, the message of the cross of Christ, as the revealing of all the wisdom which had for ages been concealed. Before Christ, wisdom was hidden beyond knowing. In Christ, the fullness of knowledge and understanding – the treasures of wisdom – are made manifest. What was obscured is now illuminated. What was mystery now has a solution. Christ is the wisdom from God and in Him are all the riches of this most precious wisdom from God. And the Lord has chosen to make Him known through the gospel so that I might know Him and enter into all the riches of this treasure trove- that I might inherit all the promises and blessings stored up in Christ. What glory – what riches are mine in Christ!

As a Christian I have been given the key to knowledge and understanding. I have been given a place to find and enjoy the treasures of wisdom. I have been given Christ – crucified for me. The world would never have thought of such wisdom, in fact it remains an enigma to those who reject the gospel and see only foolishness in the cross.

So having received the gospel, has my pursuit of wisdom ended? Have I entered in so that I may rest from the journey? No I cannot rest. The nature of treasure is still the same, it is valuable thus precious and rare. And so the hidden treasures of wisdom in Christ remain, in a sense, concealed in obscured. They’re hidden in Christ. The difference is, before Christ I had no access – regardless of how hard I tried to attain it. In Christ I have access – but still I must dig. The diamonds of wisdom and understanding are available to me in Christ – sadly, I often fail to seek them. I have received Christ through faith, yet the fullness of understanding is progressive and corresponds with the efforts or neglect I engage in. If I seek the treasures of Christ in the Word – reading, meditating, praying, asking, and pondering – they are there to be enjoyed. If I do not, I will miss out.

So the fear of the Lord is still to be pursued, and the blessings of wisdom are still to be acquired – and all the more vigorously since I have such a sure source and a certain place to dig. God delights to give me His treasures as I look to Him – so I must look.

Look then, O my soul. Set your mind on things above were Christ sits at the right hand of God. Delight yourself in all the treasures of the full assurance of understanding the knowledge of God – the glory of the mystery of the gospel – which is Christ Himself. Amen.

O how crucial, how beautiful, how life-giving, how satisfying is the right kind of knowledge. How dangerous, how hardening, how brother-ruining, how pride-puffing is the wrong kind of knowledge.

The right kind of knowledge is like this…

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14

and like this…

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

and like this…

“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18

The wrong kind of knowledge is like this…

“Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.” 1 Corinthians 8:1

and like this…

“For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.” 1 Corinthians 8:11

and like this…

“O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” 1 Timothy 6:20

We ought always to grow in the right kind of knowledge. We should persist, pursue, abound, and delight in the right kind of knowledge. For in it is hidden the wisdom, glory, and revelation of God. We ought always to resist, root out, and destroy the wrong kind of knowledge for it is Godless, speculative, demonic, and hardens the soul toward sin and against God.

And so Jesus, in his rebuke to the Pharisees and Lawyers, scolds them harshly for taking away from the people the “key of knowledge.” O how badly we need this key. There is much in the world called knowledge. There are many teachers – brilliant, persuasive authors, all spreading what they believe to be knowledge. But without the key, any knowledge locks up, rather than sets free. Knowledge, without the key, hardens the heart and blinds the eye. The mind gets puffed up with lofty thoughts as the soul shrinks and sin reigns. Many of the most brilliant professors have so much knowledge that they all but deny the very existence of the soul – demonstrating for us that the deeper the knowledge, without the key, the darker and harder the soul becomes to the light of God.

O how badly we need the key of knowledge. For with the key our eyes are opened to the glory of God in the face of Christ. With the key we gain wisdom that is sweeter to the taste than honey. With the key we see light that softens the heart, produces love, strives against sin, the gives us strength and endurance.

The key is not a hermeneutic – a method for interpretation. No method, no process can open the heart to the glory of God. No, the key is Christ Himself. Christ our key that unlocks the Word, and allows its light to enter our eyes and fill our souls. Without Christ the Bible itself may impart the wrong kind of deadly knowledge. The Pharisees and Lawyers certainly had the Bible. Even the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, though they had knowledge of the Bible, did not have the right knowledge of it. It wasn’t until Jesus explained the Scriptures to them, showing them that from Moses through the Prophets, the Bible spoke about the Christ, he showed them that He had to suffer before entering His glory and then their eyes were opened – unlocked by using the key. While the Old Testament had a mystery in it, the key to solving it was Christ. And the New Testament, the message of the gospel of Christ, is itself a mystery, concealed to the wise and knowledgeable of this world, and revealed only in Christ. But with Christ as our key we gain understanding into the very person of God, and not just understanding but involvement. By growing in the right knowledge of God we get closer to God. And by this means we grow up and we draw closer to Him.

“…that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3

Amen Lord. Guard and protect, deepen and enrich the true knowledge of the gospel in my soul. By your grace and mercy grant me the light of the knowledge of the glory God in the face of Christ.

This year my wife discovered and introduced me to at a terrific show on the Food Network called “Good Eats” It’s a cooking show. It’s informative and instructional like other cooking shows but it is so much better because its host, Alton Brown, provides extremely interesting historical and scientific information about the process of cooking. On top of that, the show is very entertaining, fun, silly, and captivating.

But what I think is most compelling about the show is that Alton Brown really loves “Good Eats.” His passion for good food is evident in every show – and he’s not afraid to make his personal tastes and preferences known. He treats food with such enthusiasm that he almost makes me willing to eat artichokes or blue cheese - almost.

In some respects Alton’s job is easy. That’s because food really is good eats. We all have appetites and we all love food – it tastes good. Making me want to eat chocolate chip cookies is like shooting fish in a barrel.

God made food to be good. He made me like the taste of food – especially sweet food like honey. Proverbs 24:13 says “My son, eat honey for it is good.” Okay! Here’s a command that’s easy to obey. Honey is good, and I’m willing to speculate that God allows substitutions in this recipe. “My son, eat chocolate for it is good… My son, eat steak for it is good,” mmmmmmm steak. God is the one who made honey good eats. But He doesn’t stop there. God is good and His good gifts, like tasty food, are to be enjoyed, but something else needs to happen when I eat tasty food. I need to know something else when I enjoy the taste of honey on my tongue. I need to know that wisdom is to my soul, as honey is to my taste. Proverbs reinforces this truth.

“Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
That they may be ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the LORD,
I have taught you today, even you.
Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
To make you know the certainty of the words of truth
That you may correctly answer him who sent you?

Tasting wisdom, eating wisdom, is “good eats” for the soul. Eating good food is pleasant on my lips, but eating wisdom is pleasant deep within. Eating food is a pleasant, but not very long lasting – I consume a dish of ice cream in maybe five minutes – if I try to make it last. But wisdom, when eaten and digested can be pleasant forever. God’s councils and knowledge are excellent and they have the spiritual capacity to increase my trust in the Lord – which is eternally nourishing.

The wisdom of God is vast and comes in many forms, flavors, and dishes. The wisdom of God can be enjoyed in bite sized snacks, or dined upon in elaborate feasts. But whatever its form, or however it is prepared, the effective ingredient is always Christ. Jesus is the wisdom of God,

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’” 1 Corinthians 1:30.

Considering Jesus Christ in all His glory is the eating of wisdom – and it is Best Eats!

Lord thank you for your goodness, your kindness and your generosity. Thank you for making honey sweet to the taste. Please help me to enjoy food as a sweet reminder that wisdom is such for my soul. And grant me a tongue that has the capacity to taste and enjoy that which is truly good. Destroy, I pray, my lively taste buds for worthless things that compete for my appetites. Change me to enjoy the wisdom of God – the glory of Christ – so much that competing desires would no longer appeal to me. Give me truly good eats to satisfy my soul in Christ. In His name I pray. Amen.

Proverbs 16:16 declares, “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.” If getting wisdom is better than getting gold, I can rejoice when God gives me hunger. Anyone who is hungry longs to eat and dreams of abundance. I think the desire for abundance is built into being human. Sometimes God actually give us abundance, but usually more hunger comes along with it. In this sense I am always going to be in a state of hunger. This is okay, because the abundance God intendeds for me, is with Him in heaven.

I suppose that if I had in my possession everything that I ever wanted, if I had true abundance, I would be sated. To be sated means not to be hungry, but rather to be full. During the holidays I ate some large meals and I was stuffed, I could not eat another bite – after the second piece of cake that is. At such a time even the idea of more dessert was loathsome – “A sated man loathes honey.” In such a state, when I’ve had my fill, I am no longer hungry and I actually turn away from good and tasty things. Not so when I’m starving on a diet – then anything looks good. In this regard hunger is my ally. It works for me to make me attracted to good things. It works for me it urges me on. It enables me to truly enjoy every good thing given to me. But to the degree that I am sated, I will not enjoy such gifts as much – there is even a danger that I will turn away from good things when I am sated.

I must therefore live in tension – and be glad about it. I will always desire abundance – this is God’s design to motivate me to seek Him in heaven. Even when I receive abundance now, there will always be something more I desire. In withholding abundance God blesses me by producing in me an effective drive that urges me to seek abundance and it also creates a deep gratitude, thankfulness, and enjoyment of those provisions that meet my daily needs.

On top of God’s blessings in keeping me hungry He adds the blessing of learning wisdom. If only greater insight and understanding of Proverbs 16:26 were the reward of hunger it would be worth it because getting wisdom is better than getting gold. I suspect, however, that the blessings of wisdom extend much further than an appreciation of Proverbs and will yield rich dividends all my days.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with hunger. Let it go to work for me. Let me be diligent in my work, let me be thankful for your provisions and your blessings, more than that grant me a longing for true abundance and draw me all my days toward my eternal inheritance in you. In Jesus name. Amen.

Why should I pursue the knowledge of God? Why should I listen carefully to the instruction of the Lord? Why should I wrestle with proverbs and the riddles of wisdom? Because I will die if I don’t.

Simplicity and complacency kill. Wisdom is shouting out, reproving me, calling me to pay careful attention and wake up from simple ways of thinking and behaving. The wisdom, knowledge, and instruction of the Lord do not yield their treasure easily or automatically. Wisdom is often wrapped in a riddle. They are obscured not because God does not want me to find them, but because their value is such that only by earnestly seeking shall I lay hold of their treasure.

If I love ease, if I love simplicity, if I am complacent, I will not heed wisdom’s call. If I am not prepared to pay close attention, seek, wrestle, listen carefully to words, and wrap my mind around riddles, I will remain naive. Such naivete is not the kind of commendable childlike faith Jesus urges. It is the kind of the neglect wisdom rebukes. Childlike faith obeys a parent’s instruction. Children must work very hard at learning their ABCs, multiplication tables, history of the world, and the mysteries of science. In only twelve grades they must learn enough to live their lives in the world.

In Christ I never graduate from school; I don’t get my diploma until the day. Therefore I must stay in school and continually incline my ears to hear the words of the wise, and apply my mind to knowledge. Children do not always understand how ABC’s or proper punctuation fit into their lives, yet they must still apply themselves to the effort. Their parents and teachers know why. I do not always understand how Biblical knowledge that sometime seems several layers removed from my daily life is important, but God knows why I must apply myself to it. One underlying reason is that only in a humble posture of being instructed will I choose to fear the Lord. From this posture I learn wisdom and instruction. By listening to the Lord I shall live securely and not die in simplicity.

O Lord I confess that I often want to live simply and not be challenged. Save me Lord from complacency. Give me grace to apply my mind to the knowledge of God. Make me willing to wrestle with perplexity and mystery. Make me humble and willing to go to school as I open your word and consider your knowledge. Pour out your Spirit, O Lord, and enlighten my heart with your knowledge. In Jesus’ name. Amen.