If a billionaire was to tell the residents of a certain neighbourhood that he has hidden $2 million in one of their public parks and that the treasure would be given to anyone who finds it, every nook and corner of all the parks would be thoroughly searched. People will even be willing to take a few days off their normal schedule for this purpose. Indeed, why would anyone continue to work with $2 million in their pocket?
Well, GOD is more than any billionaire and there is more than $2 millions hidden in the Bible. It has the keys that give access to anything that we could ever desire. Paradoxically, when it comes to scanning its pages in order to discover these keys, we are far less zealous than we would be if we were to look for the millions in a park. Why is it the case?
The first reason to this is unbelief. Most people do not really believe that there is anything worth more than $2 millions in the Bible. They are not absolutely convinced that the Bible can help them get the spouse, the job, the business, the family, the money, the car or the health they are looking for. The Roman soldier could say (Mat 8:8): “Only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” But people do not understand how powerful a (biblical) word is. Yet, Jesus said: “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn 6.63). In other words, “There is enough Breath of GOD backing every word of Mine to trigger/create the life you want: abundant life.” Unfortunately, this is so simple that people find it hard to believe.
The second reason is ignorance. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” the Bible says (Ho 4:6). Ignorance kills. People live in lack and do not prosper because they simply are not aware that the Bible contains a treasure, their treasure. The brother of the prodigal son did not know that ALL that his father had was his and he lived with him as if he was not entitled to anything. Read this story with me.* In 1957, the construction of a motorway forced the relocation of an entire monastery. As a result, the monks had to move the massive clay Buddha that they worshipped in the temple. During these operations, the statue, which was very heavy, cracked in different places. Then, it started to rain. So, the abbot decided to put the statue back on its base and cover it with a tarp to protect it. During the night, he came to inspect the installation. As he walked the beam of his flashlight on the statue, a shiny point caught his attention. Looking closely, he understood that there was another material underneath the clay and began to break it. After a few hours, he came face to face with a solid gold Buddha. It seems as though many years ago, some monks had decided to hide their precious Buddha under a thick layer of mud – maybe to protect it from thieves- and they all died with their secret.
Similarly, the LORD has hidden gold, diamonds and all sorts of precious stones within the pages of the Bible. However, to many, it is just a boring and obsolete book. What a pity!
Finally, people do not study their Bible because of laziness. Many are those who know that it holds the keys to their emancipation and happiness, but they are too lazy to bother to read every page and scan every line to find the key verse they need. People want shortcuts. They want someone else to do the job for them. It's like someone who is overweight and who knows that he/she should be doing some exercise but they don’t because it is too strenuous for them. They’d rather drink a miraculous tea to make all the excess weight to disappear.
According to my pastor, if you can still enjoy a deep sleep, then you don’t have great goals for your life, because if you did, you would hardly sleep. In the same spirit, I feel like saying that you do not really want to prosper yet. The day your prosperity, success or future is going to become a serious matter; you’ll lose your sleep and search/cram the Scriptures. I wholeheartedly pray for that moment to be ‘NOW.’
Have a great week and God bless you.
(*http://www.interbible.org/interBible/cithare/intuitions/2007/int_070508.htm – translated from French)
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