Searching for hidden treasure 05/06/2022

indeed, 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, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. [Proverbs 2:3‭-‬6 NIV]

Life for most people in Scotland in 2022 is much easier than it was in 1952 and certainly in 1922. We have so many labour saving devices and modern technology which speeds up so many tasks. For example, washday was a big weekly event for my mother who was always busy even though she was 'just a housewife.' Monday was the day for the weekly clothes wash and it took most of the day for her. She heated up water in an electric boiler in the kitchen and the clothes were steeped in the hot water. She scrubbed and washed clothes in a deep sink and rinsed them out in the adjoining sink. Drying clothes was also time consuming. The result of so many labour saving devices is that we want everything done instantly. The whole emphasis on ready-made meals, for example, and take-away meals is an illustration of the 21st century desire to avoid time-consuming and demanding tasks.

The Book of Proverbs was written long before the invention of labour-saving devices. It was written for a society where physical effort was the norm. It was before the 'something for nothing mindset.' If you wanted something enough, it was expected that you would make every effort to obtain it.

So these verses in Proverbs make the point that we must make an effort if we are going to discover wisdom. It will not just happen. Effort is required. This is emphasised repeatedly.

• Call out for (spiritual) insight

• Cry aloud for (spiritual) understanding

• Look for it as silver

• Search for it as hidden treasure

How does all of this fit in with the emphasis which we always make in the preaching of the Gospel that we are not saved by our own efforts?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. [Ephesians 2: 8-9]

My answer to this is that both truths are taught in the Bible and they are not contradictory. When I was a student in my late teens at Glasgow University, I attended lectures on the poet, John Milton. The lecturer stressed that Milton's view of orthodoxy was to believe Biblical principles which appeared to contradict each other. The lecturer said that Milton believed that it was necessary to believe both. Some examples come to mind: the Bible teaches that Jesus was both God and man at the same time. It is error to stress his humanity at the expense of his deity. Another example is the truth of election: God chose us before the world began but the truth of the Gospel is that the message is for everyone - whoever believes.

The same argument applies here. It is true that we cannot work for our salvation because we need to rely by faith on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. But if we push this truth too much we will have a cheap salvation. There is no suggestion that we will be saved automatically without faith. There is no suggestion that it is a mere intellectual assent to a text of the Bible. There has to be a searching of the heart before conversion and an acknowledgement of our sinfulness in the sight of God. Many a person has wrangled with their conscience for many a year before coming to faith in Christ.

Also, our conversion is only the start of the Christian life. If we are going to become a follower of Jesus it will involve daily commitment and taking up our cross as we follow Him. It is not a 'stroll in the park.'

It involves serious prayer daily and regular Bible study and learning from God. Now that is not suggesting that we are studying the Bible or praying to win God's approval. But the believer in the Lord Jesus will find that it is a lifetime commitment to a pathway of service and sacrifice. If we are genuine about wanting to know God more, it will involve a serious commitment where we prayerfully study the Word of God guided by the Holy Spirit and our own sins and shortcomings will be exposed in the light of the Biblical revelation. It is like a two-edged sword. It cuts both ways simultaneously. As I seek to share God's word, I am challenged and rebuked by the living Word of God. Let us not settle for a cheap, half-hearted Christian faith. One chorus I heard puts it like this, "I want to be more than a Sunday-go-to-meeting Christian."

[Photo by Karren McPherson commissioned for Day Share]