“He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.” (Pr 2:7 AV)
The word picture here is astounding.
Verse four compares wisdom to silver and precious treasures. In our verse this morning, the LORD hides
this treasure called wisdom for the righteous.
Wisdom is compared to a treasure that is layed up or hidden for the
righteous to find. It is not
hoarded. It is not selfishly kept to God
Himself. This treasure called wisdom is
reserved for those who seek it. This
brings us to our salient point. Wisdom
is often thought of in many different terms.
It is thought of as a necessary evil to ward of worse evils. Wisdom is seen as an encroachment on our
personal liberty that is designed for nothing more than to rob us of pleasure. Wisdom is seen as anything but a treasure. Unless
we are pursuing a goal that brings pleasure by wisdom, wisdom is seen as a
negative. Like the cooking shows my wife
and I like to watch. They teach
irrefutable truths like cheese and fish do not go together, which reveals wisdom
that makes cooking a pleasure. Only those with a desire to live right will
appreciate and search out wisdom.
One of my all-time favorite movies is The Goonies. For those unfamiliar, it is a story of young
lads looking for secret treasure. These
boys are about twelve years old. Still
in the youth of imagination and exploration, these boys are searching for this
pirate treasure that they might rescue their sea-faring town from possession by
a developer. It starts with one of the
boys who is rummaging around in his attic and comes across a map. This map reveals the location of the pirate
ship once sailed by the dreaded pirate, One-Eyed Willy. A subplot is this group of adventurous boys
happen upon a family of ruthless counterfeiters. In their pursuit of this treasure, this ruthless
family is right on their tails.
Eventually, they do discover the treasure and rescue their town. The reason this resonates so well is the
story puts to screen what many young men dream.
Many of us have dug holes or searched the woods for some sort of hidden
treasure. I can attest to that. Many hours were spent walking about my father’s
woods looking for something of value. It
is said there have been several treasure hunts in the recent past which an
interested party could buy into a map and clues. It is in our nature to look for something
valuable among the clutter of life. We
remodeled and found letters dating back to WWII hidden in the walls. We love to look for things. Why not wisdom?
James tells us that if we ask for wisdom, God gives it liberally. He desires to share wisdom. But He will not share it with those who do
not appreciate it. This brings us back
to our point. Wisdom is meant to give us
the most blessed and happy life possible.
Like learning an instrument, one must apply themselves to the lessons taught
and then discipline oneself to the skills learned. Although I know there are musicians that might
regret the hard work it took to learn to play, they are rare. Most musicians appreciate the talent to play
and play for pure enjoyment. But this
takes wisdom. They may have had to
sacrifice other liberties, but in the end, the talent to play an instrument
with skill and pleasure is something most appreciate. Wisdom for all areas of life should be seen
the same way. Those who wish to live in
righteousness will search out wisdom as the Goonies looked for One-Eyed Willy’s
treasure. There is an end game. There is a purpose. And reaching that goal is more satisfying
than the search ever was. For us, that
goal is Christlikeness.
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