So why do you think we remain ignorant?
Permit me to share with you why I think this is the case.
A short time after moving to South
Africa, I went into a local Five Rand store and overheard two young men
speaking Shona (a local language from Zimbabwe). When they had finished their
conversation, one walked away and the other continued stocking the shelf. I
turned and asked the one that had remained behind, “Are you from Zimbabwe?” He
replied, “Yes.” He asked why I was asking and I told him I overheard him
speaking Shona to his friend and recognized the language, as I had lived there
for ten years. It was a very short conversation, but for some reason he wanted
to tell me he had touched real diamonds with his own hands while he was in
Zimbabwe. I can’t remember my response, but this brief and seemingly
insignificant conversation remained with me. I felt God was using it to point
out a very important treasure or insight. Just like this young man held a
diamond in his hand—touching it, carefully examining it, seeing its incredible
value—we, too, are touching, examining and looking at what has eternal value.
This young man had in his possession something of incredible value; yet, it did
not help change his position or status, evidenced by the fact he was working in
a Five Rand store (R5 is approximately 50 US cents) in Cape Town, South Africa.
As Christians, we have the Greatest
Treasure within us; yet, many of us live without accessing the wealth and the
One who lives within. We are often satisfied with little or a counterfeit. This
Treasure within is doing nothing to help change our lives. Why didn’t
possessing that diamond change the young man’s life? The problem wasn’t the
diamond. The problem was the fact the young man did not own the land in which
he found the diamond. The “source” of the diamond didn’t belong to him;
therefore, the worth of the diamond made no difference
to him! The same is true for us as sons and daughters of God. We know the
Source of all that has been given to us; yet, we don’t allow Him to change us,
because, for the most part, we don’t value Him. Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy
the truth and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.”
I believe the Word of God is, in many ways, like the land in which the treasure
is found. We try to possess the Treasure without first investing in the
land—the Word of God. So, has the Word of God failed us, or have we failed the
Word of God? In my opinion, we have failed the Word of God, because despite
coming into regular contact with the truths of the Scriptures, we don’t allow
these truths and treasures to make an eternal impact. Why? Perhaps we don’t
value the Bible, as we should. (Taken from the book, “The Treasure Within,” by
Kathy Gooch).
I believe that we will not come out of
our ignorance unless we invest time in the Word of God. Within it contains the
answers to every area of our lives on individual, corporate, national and
international levels. I also believe that the more we search out the whole
counsel of God, throughout the Scriptures, the less likely we will be prone to
wander from the truth. And the less likely we will take and use Scripture out
of its overall context.
Around the same time I heard the
phrase, “Eradicate Bible poverty and increase Bible engagement” the Lord reminded
me of a phrase my Senior Pastor had said, “Those who know ‘why’ have the
advantage over those who know ‘how’.” In other words, let’s not be satisfied
with knowing ‘how’ to do something, (i.e. prayer, worship, quoting Scripture,
etc.) but let’s know ‘why’ the Word says we should.
May we become like the Bereans who Paul
went to preach to in Acts 17:11. They didn’t take the Word at face value, but
searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether what they were being told was
true. Ignorance was NOT bliss for them, and may it NOT be for us!
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