On the Approach

I have a book that's been sitting on my nightstand since last Christmas. I have wholeheartedly wanted to read it, and it's on a topic that is of great interest to me. Yet, I haven't; it's just been sitting there. For nearly a year.

I finally started reading it today, and as I fought the urge to put it down half way into the first chapter, I realized why it's taken me so long to start it in the first place: truth.

Proverbs 23:23 reads, "Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding." (NIV)

This is clear instruction, and intuitively, I nod along as I read. Of course! How could the truth not be a good thing? Wisdom, good. Discipline, good. Understanding, also good. I would be the first one to tell you that I believe in the pursuit of these things, and that that belief shows up in the activity and actions of my life.

Yet, sometimes, I resist.

I didn't pick up this book because I was a little afraid of what it might have to say. I am still a little afraid, to tell the truth. It's about relationships, Biblical relationships with others in our lives, and I am fairly certain it has some things to teach me. I'm only about 5 chapters in, and I already know there are some ways in which I'm not living out or living into a Biblical standard. Actually, I suppose I knew that before I even started reading. Yet, before beginning, I could claim simple ignorance. How could I be expected to live God's principles if I wasn't 100% clear on what they are? Well, that might sound nice, but isn't honest. Just as the verse above says, we are to get truth, get wisdom and discipline. It doesn't say, "It's a lucky break for people who accidentally happen upon wisdom." It says "get wisdom." Get it. The word used in translation here is clearly active, assertive, alive. This isn't a verse about dumb luck resulting in some wisdom and knowledge of truth; this is a verse about action.

So, I've started my book, and I am going to keep reading. In fact, somewhere inside me, I have a feeling that once I get going, I'm not going to be able to put this book down. There is a craving deep inside me for this knowledge; for knowledge and knowing. Of Him, of His ways. Fearing them, and fearing the learning is foolishness. So, I'm diving in! Wherever you may find yourself treading lightly around His direction, go forth boldly. You are safe in His ways!