Freshness

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.” (Pr 25:2-3 AV)

 

This morning was kind of different.  I read my devotions and the Spirit gave me more study notes to add.  So, the LORD was definitely showing me more wisdom from His word.  However, part of me knew the LORD was speaking to me about something else.  That something else was not found in the passages regarding Hezekiah.  So, I prayed and asked the LORD what it was that He wanted of me.  With what did He wish to challenge my heart?  Then He spoke to me about freshness.  Not the kind of freshness one looks for in the produce section.  Rather, the freshness of that which you are sharing with others.  We can get stale over time.  We can share the same truths or have the same remarks.  We can study different passages of scripture and come up with the same applications.  We can relate the same anecdotal evidence to prove a point.  In short, we can get in a rut.  This isn’t just for preachers.  This is for anyone who is tasked to influence others.  If we are not careful, we will share nothing fresh for consideration.  The reason we have nothing fresh is not complicated.  It is revealed above.

These two verses are intended to teach as the heart of God is unsearchable to a king, so too is the heart of a king to his subjects.  In other words, just like a king cannot know all that God does and why or how He does it, so too those who live or serve under another cannot possibly know all their superior knows.  But there is another truth here.  The king is to search out that which is in the heart of God and to do so is an honor.  He searches the heart of God for the purpose of effective government on his part.  As he understands the wisdom of God, he can translate that into his own responsibilities of governing a nation.  Each set of problems requires a fresh input of truth.  Life requires the king to stay in the word of God so as situations arise, he has the wisdom from God requires to meet those challenges.  If we are not fresh in our offerings to those who follow, it means we have ceased to search out a matter that is fresh and new.  In other words, we have ceased to grow in all areas.

Studying our favorite topic or doctrine over and again does not keep us fresh.  If we are a prophecy nut or a doctrine junky, we can read and study books on those topics all day long.  But the information is the same.  Perhaps written in a slightly different way, but it is basically all the same.  This keeps us stale.  There needs to be a variety of subject matter that keeps us fresh.  God’s mind is infinite.  When the king searches the heart and mind of God, he is searching an infinite mind.  The offerings of such a mind are more diverse than the one searching could possibly appreciate.  The older I get, the more I realize just how many holes there are in my knowledge of the word of God.  There are subjects I am extremely familiar with.  Others, not so much.  Those holes are indications of where one’s attention should be focused.  It would be wrong to fall back on what we know so well and ignore the holes that exist.  To search out matters of which we have never searched keeps us fresh.  It keeps us relevant.  It keeps our ministry worth much to others who need all the truth they can get.  If we are stale, then we are not growing.  If we are not growing, then we cannot feed those who need the truth for their own walk with God.