PROVERBS: IF YOU SEEK IT, YOU WILL FIND IT
by Ivan Maddox
Atlanta, GA

In chapter 1 of Proverbs, we were informed that wisdom is out looking for us, and warned of the consequences if we
rejected it when it found us. In chapter 2 we see the other side of the picture. God wants us to put the same estimate on
His wisdom, "the wisdom that is from above" (James 3:17), that He does. If we do, we will go after wisdom like
something priceless -- which it is!

Proverbs 2:1-4
1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,

God wants us to go after wisdom like we would go after buried treasure!

Suppose you found out from an extremely reliable source that there was a million dollars in gold buried in your back yard.
Would you go looking for it? How? Would you dig a little bit here, a little bit there, then give up? Or would you go out,
rent a bulldozer, and demolish the back yard? Would you worry about what your neighbors might think? Or would you
figure that a million dollars in gold was worth any funny looks you might get from next door?

A heart that is ready to receive wisdom from God is a heart that is out looking for it -- urgently seeking it. God makes an
incredible and beautiful promise to those who seek God's wisdom this way.

Proverbs 2:5.
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

If you seek God's wisdom like you really want it, God guarantees that you will find it! It doesn't matter how good a
seeker you are, or how lousy you are at it. If you really want it, and you go after it with that kind of heart, God
guarantees your success! How can you improve on a deal like that?

Proverbs 2:6.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

This verse makes it crystal clear what wisdom is, in case we haven't figured it out by now. Wisdom is God's Word
revealed to men. When God speaks, that is wisdom. What He reveals to us in His Word, that is wisdom.

Wisdom doesn't travel alone. When we receive wisdom from God, we receive the bonuses that He throws in with it.

Proverbs 2:7-8.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Along with wisdom, God will give you victory and protection. What a package!

But there are four words in these two verses that call our attention to a very important truth. These words are "upright",
"blameless", "just", and "faithful". These words emphasize that it is not enough for us to stuff our heads full of God's
Word. That alone will not give us wisdom. Jesus emphasized this in the parable of the house built on the rock.

Matthew 7:21-27.
21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he
who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your
name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
23 Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise
man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it
did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a
foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it
fell with a great crash."

It is not enough just to hear God's Word, or even to agree with it. That may make a pretty house, but it will give you no
protection whatsoever from the storms of life. Building your house on the solid foundation of the Rock means not only
hearing, but doing the Word of God.

If we're going to receive the wisdom of God, then, and all that goes with it, we're going to have to change the way we do
business. We're going to have to replace our way of doing things with God's way of doing things.

When you get to the point of doing things God's way instead of just agreeing in your head that God's way is a pretty good
idea, something else takes place -- and I truly believe in my heart that this is a gift from God: His way of doing things
begins to make sense to you.

Proverbs 2:9-10.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

Many times, when learning to do things God's way rather than our own way, we do what He says strictly because that's
what He says do, in spite of the fact that His way makes no sense to us. God reveals to us here that understanding follows
obedience; it's not the other way around! Not only will God's way make sense to us; we will find it "pleasant to [our]
soul" as well.

God has given us His wisdom to guide us and protect us, to keep us on straight paths, right paths. Here at last is the secret
behind the "Just say no!" attitude found in Proverbs 1. We are under obligation to obey God's Word even if we don't
understand it, because God is who He is. This is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord. But once we commit
ourselves to obeying Him, He will open the eyes of our understanding so that His ways make sense to us.

But it is that commitment to walk in His ways instead of our own ways, whether or not His ways make sense to us, that
will protect us from the snares and traps of life.

Proverbs 2:11-20.
11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.

Proverbs 2 closes by reminding us that walking in God's ways will bring not only present, but future rewards. In Israel,
God's promise centered on the Land of Israel. The day will come when all wickedness will be removed from the Land,
and the righteous will enjoy it in peace.

Proverbs 2:21-22.
21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

For those of us who have accepted Christ as Lord, those promises center on the return of Christ to gather his church to
him.

I Corinthians 15:50-58.
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does
the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead
will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." [7]
55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" [8]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully
to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

We will receive a full reward at Christ's return if we walk, not in our own ways or our own wisdom, but in God's.

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Created 6/15/97, by Ivan Maddox