Jan 6, Wise men still seek Him.

Joyous Epiphany!

My child, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and 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. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. ~Proverbs 2:1-6

This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it, the Lord is His name: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” ~Jeremiah 33:2-3

The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ~James 3:17

On the traditional Church calendar today is Epiphany. It is the twelfth day of Christmas. It is the day that the Church remembers the visit of the wisemen to the Christ child. With this last appearance by the final visitors, the Magi, the Christmas season draws to a close and we return to common time. The wise men went to great lengths to find and visit the New King and give their gifts. If you think of the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” this is the day that “my true love gave to me” tons of stuff! The true love really goes all out and brings a huge treasure of gifts to the receiver.

The passage in Proverbs today reminds me of the search that the Magi undertook to find Jesus. They weren’t sure what they would find, a child or an adult, but they must have thought that He was a great treasure because of all of the time and expense they put into finding Him. They sought Him out with only understanding of the heavens and a star to guide them. The gifts that they were prepared to give also demonstrate how important was the treasure they were seeking.  It was a treasure hunt extraordinaire!

The Father in our passage from Proverbs thinks of seeking wisdom in the same way. He compares it to silver or gold with amazing benefits to those who find it. Think of how many of our early explorers came to the new world because of the belief that there was gold in abundance. It was a powerful force that brought many people to America, or even more recently, to California with the gold rush of the 1850s. Gold is, indeed, a valuable treasure, but the Father in our passage today believes that wisdom is an even more valuable treasure to be sought.

We hopefully gain wisdom through our experiences, but I don’t know of too many people who seek those experiences out. Often, I find that I stumble upon wisdom as a by-product of my suffering, but what does it look like to actually seek it out like a person with Gold Rush Fever?

I often think about seeking out knowledge. I want to know things like, how something works or what something is made of; who did what and how many is required. That is knowledge, but knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing. Yet wisdom is also something to be sought.

Think of it this way, if knowledge is facts, wisdom is the understanding of how to apply those facts for God’s glory. We seek that out in God’s Word and prayer. God has promised that His wisdom is readily available when we take the time to seek it. Instead of rushing ahead because we think we know, He is constantly calling us to stop, look and listen to His thoughts and opinions on the matter. It is better for us when what we do is bathed in prayer at the beginning rather than tacked on at the end as a plea for His rubber stamp of approval. Sadly, too often this is how we conduct our affairs. We meet to pray and spend most of the time talking to each other and then quickly pray at the end. Or, we meet to plan and, after we have laid out our course, we pray at the end to invite God in on the project.

What if we did it backwards? What if, when we met to pray, we really spent the time praying, without getting everybody caught up first. What if, when we met to plan, we put prayer for His plans and guidance first and then shared at the end what we felt the Lord had presented? What if we sought His wisdom as the treasure it truly is instead of stumbling upon it through our many fits and starts and wrong turns along the way.

If we can really put in the effort to seek Him before we begin, the promise is: “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” James tells us that: “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” With that kind of wisdom, how can we fail with our fellow man?

Prayer: Lord, As the Proverbial Father says, I will take his wise advice and seek even more wisdom by listening for Your voice to help me understand Your revealed Word. Help me remember to pray first and all the way through. Help me hear and obey so that things go well for me and bring You glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

As With Gladness Men of Old

PS: I think I would like it if we actually celebrated the twelve days of Christmas as the song suggests! Just one small gift on Christmas Day, but then more and more for each of the next 11 days! But who could afford that?