“It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” (Proverbs 25:2) The Lord could have given us a 100-page book and offered to simplify the answers to all of our questions. We would have had the ‘spiritual Betty Crocker cookbook.’ Instead, he gave us the Scriptures, and he calls us to diligently dig through the pages of it to uncover the truths contained therein.
If all the answers we needed were laid out in an ‘easy to find’ format, we would not be worth the grunt of a hog. We already have instant tea, instant coffee, instant breakfast, and instant news. However, the Lord has made sure that we can never take his Word for granted, for there are no shortcuts to learning the truth. In other words, he does not offer us instant understanding.
Give a teenager a car, and he MAY take care of it, but more than likely he will fail to see its real value. Make him earn wages through hard work and buy the car himself, and he WILL take care of it because now it has a measurable value to him. Those who are given everything, or want everything given to them, never learn to appreciate what they have because it did not ‘cost them anything’ and therefore, it has no measurable worth or value to them.
The Holy Spirit moved upon the writers of the Scriptures and used them to accurately record God’s truth for us. It is written by over 40 different persons spanning a time of 1,500 years as God progressively revealed his heart to mankind. To understand God’s Word we have to be diligent students of the Bible, and men and women of faith, who are willing to search things out. God has spoken, he has spoken clearly, and he has spoken in the Bible. The question is whether or not we will do our part to gain understanding.
If a farmer wants a well in his pasture to water his cattle, he can’t sit around and wish it into reality. He has to do the work himself or find someone he can trust to do it for him. There are no shortcuts, and either way, it will cost him. Likewise, if we want to clearly understand the treasures of truth from God’s Word, we must be willing to work for it—there is no such thing as a free lunch. It will cost us a price.
Solomon once said, “Buy the truth and sell it not.” (Pro. 23:23) This doesn’t mean we can merit or earn our salvation in Christ. However, it does mean that if we want to understand God’s ways or want to teach them to our children and grandchildren, we must be willing to spend the necessary time and energy to acquire wisdom. God’s Word is filled with treasures about salvation and life, and we can find them if we… Search it Out!
