An Appointment with Christ: Proverbs 3 (Part 2)

On this occasion, we continue our study of the third chapter of the Book of Proverbs, a book devoted to the subject of wisdom. In our last message, we reflected on the opening verses of that third chapter, which I want to read again to refresh our memory.

There the word of the Lord says: “My son, do not forget my law, and let your heart keep my commandments, for they will add length of days, years of life, and peace to you. Let mercy and truth never depart from you. Bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart, and you will find favor and a good reputation in the sight of God and man. Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own opinion; fear Jehovah and turn away from evil, for it will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.”

What beautiful and practical counsel this word of the Lord contains. In our last meditation, we spoke about the fact that we must treasure the word of God, value it, and regard it as what it is: a word that comes directly from the mind and mouth of God. Therefore, that word has the power to transform our lives if we receive it in faith and believe in our hearts that it was left by God to guide us along the path of life and to show us how we should draw near to Him and relate to Him. Faith is required of the man or woman who approaches the word of God; it is that faith which activates the power and life contained in the word of God.

You will remember that we quoted what the Bible says: that the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, and it penetrates so deeply that it divides the joints and the bones and separates the flesh from the spirit. And the Bible says that there is no created thing hidden from the scrutiny of the word of God. The Bible is something powerful. I have had the privilege of reading many books throughout my life. I have read books on science, literature, sociology, philosophy, history, and politics, but with complete conviction I can tell you that I have never found a book containing more wisdom and more practical knowledge than the Bible, the word of the Lord. The Bible is composed of 66 books written over a period of several thousand years, written by men, many of whom did not know one another, and yet it possesses great coherence and great unity. It contains concepts so sublime that it is impossible for a man to have conceived them merely through rational thought. The Bible has been scrutinized by great scholars, including many intellectuals who have sought to disprove its claims to be the word of God, and it has always emerged undefeated.

Many of the great archaeological discoveries made in recent years with the latest tools of science have served to confirm that the data and historical events recorded in the Bible are reliable, true, and faithful to historical reality. The Bible is a trustworthy book. I have never known anyone who based his life and conduct on the word of God and regretted having done so. When we trust in the word of the Lord and build our lives upon its counsel and commandments, that word proves faithful again and again.

That is why, if I had to choose just one book to keep, I would keep the Bible. If I had to live on a deserted island and they asked me what book I wanted to have with me for the rest of my days on that deserted island, I would say without hesitation: get me a Bible, because with that word of God, I have comfort there, I have counsel, I have a source of teaching, and through a miracle of God, with that word I can even leave that deserted island and find my way once again. The Bible is a living book. The Spirit of God throbs within its pages, and its teachings can be used by the wisest people as well as by the humblest, by the illiterate as well as by the person with a doctorate, by man or woman, by the child, the young person, the adult, or the elderly person, by the one who has a great deal of money or the one who does not have a single penny. The Bible is a source of miracles. Through the Bible, the word of God, you can come into contact with the very power that created the universe. The word of the Lord says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

And certainly, this Scripture, this wonderful Scripture called the Bible, contains the deepest mysteries, and through it we can become partakers of the Lord’s own wisdom. But once again, that faith, that conviction, that confidence that through it we have access to the mind of the Lord is required.

The writer of Proverbs also says in another passage: “My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom; if you incline your heart to prudence; if you cry out for understanding and raise your voice for prudence; if you seek it as silver and search for it as for treasures, then you will understand the fear of Jehovah and find the knowledge of God, for Jehovah gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He provides sound wisdom for the upright and is a shield to those who walk uprightly.”

Oh, you who are listening to me today, I want to call you to adopt an attitude of loving, respecting, studying, and diligently searching the word of the Lord. Do not underestimate the importance of knowing the Bible. Today that book is so plentiful that we can find a copy of the Bible almost anywhere. Many of us have underestimated it, and because it is so readily accessible, we no longer even pay attention to it. There are people who go to church every Sunday and yet do not have a copy of the Bible in their homes; and if they do have one, they never open it. Sometimes, superstitiously, they leave it open to Psalm 23 in their living room, but they have never bothered to leaf through its pages and diligently examine its teachings. I say that anyone who despises the word of God, anyone who underestimates its depth and richness, is worse than a beast, because only through the word of the Lord can we find the understanding our lives need.

It is not possible to be wise apart from the word of the Lord. In fact, the Bible itself says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. And how are we to know exactly how to fear God, how to respect His commandments, how to serve Him, and how to please Him, if not through the revelation He has left in Scripture?

I ask you, you who are listening to me, to begin a love affair with the word of the Lord. Begin to search the Bible diligently; begin, and ask God to give you wisdom. The Bible is a profound book that has its mysteries, and we must learn how to interpret it. But through contact with men and women who have studied it and searched it diligently, you too can come to understand it, for although the word of God is so profound, it is also accessible to the simplest mind. I know people who can barely read and write, yet they possess the wisdom of philosophers because they have learned to interpret the word of the Lord. No one can approach the word of God with humility, simplicity of heart, and faith without learning, over time, to know and intelligently navigate that word of the Lord, for God has made it in such a way that it can satisfy the concerns of the most profound person as well as those of the simplest person. All that is required is a desire, a longing to know this word and to seek its truths.

I hope that from this day forward, the Holy Spirit will stir you to become knowledgeable about the word of the Lord. May God bless you, may His illumination reach your spirit, and may you become a student of the word of the Lord. Until next time, I bid you farewell.