Searching for Hidden Treasure
“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.”
Proverbs 2:3-5
Growing up, I spent countless hours walking on the beach searching for shark teeth. I was particularly fond of going out early on the mornings when the tide was low and discovering what had washed in overnight, but for the novice, shark tooth hunting can also test one’s patience. If you’ve ever been shark tooth hunting before, you know that a sharp eye is required to find them. It takes commitment. One might walk for hours and not find anything. Successful shark tooth hunting is fueled by a deep-rooted desire to unearth these little ancient fossils.
The same is true for growing in grace. If we want to learn more about God and His ways, if we want to grow in wisdom and understanding, then we must eagerly search for it. The lesson today from Proverbs 2 uses the language of “calling out” and “crying aloud” for insight and understanding. This goes beyond simply desiring wisdom, or even asking for it. To call out, or to cry aloud, evokes a sense of emotion, of desperate need. This is the kind of desire needed to grow in insight and understanding.
Proverbs 2 also uses the imagery of searching for hidden treasure to describe the quest to obtain wisdom and insight. Hidden treasure, like a shark tooth, is hard to find. One must hunger for it in order to obtain it. Determination is required, but the good news is that God has unveiled the treasures of wisdom and made it easily accessible to anyone who wishes to find it. He has given us His Word. And, even better, He has given us His Son, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3)
As you begin your day today, might you consider mining the riches of God’s wisdom? Perhaps, you might read a Psalm, or Proverb, or a chapter from a Gospel. As you do this, pray that God would use His Word to deepen your understanding of God and His ways. Remember that if you search, God promises that “you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
