Digging Up Buried Treasure

Growing up, my best friend and I would dig up our backyards in hope of discovering buried treasure. We dreamt about unearthing bones, gold, treasure maps. With our hands and sticks, we eagerly dug, convinced we would happen upon an artifact no one had ever seen. Though we never found Native American paraphernalia or Black Beard’s gold, we reveled in the hope of uncovering a mystery.

As adults not many of us still look for buried treasure. But this is exactly what Solomon invites us to do when he writes of wisdom, “If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God” (Prov 2:4, 5 NASB). Seek for wisdom as financial gain. Pan for her like gold. Dig for her like dinosaur bones. God desires that we answer His call to come seek for wisdom, and in so doing discover Him.

So what if we began to view the book of Proverbs, Wisdom literature, and Scripture itself as one big backyard full of possibilities? What if we grabbed our friends and with open hearts and minds began to unearth the hidden treasures God breathed? In so doing we can happen upon the very knowledge of God.

Let us then say our amen to Paul’s prayer for each other and for ourselves, we "pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:9, 10). Grab your Bible. Get some friends together. It's time to go treasure hunting.

Questions, God's Invitations

At church this morning the Young Adult pastor spoke on the importance of studying Scripture. He pointed out that reading the Word invokes tons of questions. He went so far as to say that if when we read the Bible we don’t have questions, we’re not really reading it. I couldn’t agree more.

In another blog entry (“Transforming Questions” October 2008), I wrote on this very topic. Questions, I'm beginning to see, are like invitations from Christ. He invites us on a journey of seeking and finding, where we seek answers and find Him. For if we never wonder, we never pursue.

So what are some questions you have? Maybe God is calling you to an exploration, an adventure to come and investigate, to search and find the treasures of His heart. Let us brave the mystery and courageously walk forward and open the Word. May we not fear the confusion or the frustration. Instead may we hope that we will find what we seek.

My invitations:
Why faith?
How does the Spirit operate? What does it mean to walk by the Spirit?
Why did God give the laws He gave in the Mosaic Law? Wouldn't we have known we were sinners apart from these rules?
What does sin look like to God?
Why does God permit such suffering in the world? Is witnessing His glory through painful circumstances (e.g. blind man since birth story in John; enduring earth until Christ’s return) really that much better than not having any pain in the first place?
What did Jesus feel on the cross?
How do God’s sovereignty and humanity’s liberty coincide?