Study the Word of God Like You're Looking for Money.

I was running the other day and as I run, I always look for any obstacles such as glass, holes in the sidewalk or uneven places that might cause an injury. I usually run against traffic so theoretically if a car were careening out of control I might have a chance at diving in the ditch. Every once in a while I'll notice a penny or sometimes even a quarter. On this particular day I see a one dollar bill about 2 feet off the sidewalk in the grass. I immediately stop and as I bend down to pick it up I notice ANOTHER one dollar bill.

Well, I had planned on just picking up the one dollar and keep on running, but now upon finding the second dollar I am in official looking-for-money mode. Who knows, maybe the unfortunate soul who had lost the couple of bucks had also lost a twenty! I mean, there is no sense in letting all that money blow around littering up the place. I have discovered there is a special attitude involved whenever I am looking for money.

Now I'm not talking about the general awareness of noticing money lying around somewhere. I mean when we are with purpose and eagerness looking expectantly for money or even the anticipation of finding money we have lost KNOWING it has to be here somewhere.

I try to read the chapter of Proverbs that corresponds with each day's date so when I found the couple of dollars on April 24th, the experience of finding the money was still fresh in my mind when I read Proverbs chapter 2, yesterday. The chapter begins by laying out a list of "ifs" when it comes to accepting words of teaching, storing them within us, turning our ear to wisdom and applying our hearts to understanding. The payoff comes in verse 5 with the reward being gaining the understanding of the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God.

The crescendo for me was when I read the instructions when it comes to calling and crying out for insight and understanding in verse 4. "... and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure," That verse took on a whole new meaning for me after finding the couple of dollars and having my attitude changed instantly into the one of "looking for money." I was WAY too happy about finding a couple of dollars on the street. If I can apply the same enthusiasm and downright determination to studying the scriptures and gaining the wisdom and insight I am promised a success that a lifetime of searching for silver can't match.

I notice the instruction is not to search for it harder than we would search for silver or hidden treasure. We are only instructed to equal the intensity we have in our lives for gaining money. We know the wisdom and insight involved in God's Word is many times more valuable than any money we can gain in our lifetimes. I think the challenge is maintaining that focus and determination about God's Word in spite of the messages, that is, lies, that society tries to convince us to spend our lives pursuing instead.