Buy Truth, and do not sell it;
Buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Proverbs 23:23
Truth…We have all by now heard people say “live your truth,” “my truth,” or “you wouldn’t understand you are not a part of this generation.” Truth has become a variable. When did truth become a variable? It has been a slow evolution from things being black and white to grey.
Our Proverb today says that we should “buy truth and not sell it.” However, we live in a culture that has sold truth. The Bible used to be the source of truth for so many, but now we have Bible scholars that believe that Genesis is myth and Job is an allegory. The more that truth is sold and lies are believed the more the foundation of our society, our culture, and the world becomes unsteady. What can we count on what can we rely on if truth is sold?
We have been encouraged to believe that what makes us happy is what we should trust in. If a relationship will make us happy, we should go after that relationship even if that relationship contradicts what the Bible says. God gave us guidelines in His Word, because He created us and He knows what is best for us. Just like the manufacturer of a chain saw knows that you need oil and gas mixed together in order for the chain saw to run well, so God wrote the Bible as our guidebook so we would know how to live. When we buy truth and not sell truth four happiness, we will actually have more joy and peace than we could ever imagine.
We think that if we do things our way rather than God’s way, we will get what we are looking for. Just like the person that thinks that running the chain saw without oil mixed with the gas will work okay, so our lives will begin to malfunction when we do not follow the truth of God’s Word.
Our verse not only encourages us to buy truth and not sell it, it also encourages us to buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. How do we do this? We are humble enough to seek others out for wisdom and discernment. When we buy wisdom, we are saying in essence that we need it. When I go to the grocery store every week, it is because I need things to eat for the week. I go there to buy things because I need them. So we need wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Since they are such great needs in our life, we must seek out those that are wise. Do the people that we are seeking out following God’s Word, or are we seeking people that will only tell us what we want to hear? It may be easier to just put gas in your chainsaw, but is it best. In order to follow the manufacturer’s directions for the chainsaw, you need a separate gas can and special oil so that you can mix the oil and the gas together. Follow the manufacturer’s directions and your chainsaw will run well, but do it your own way and it won’t run well.
So it is with our lives. When we see God, His Word, and those that choose to live by God’s Word as the source for wise living, we will experience more peace and joy. The byproduct of buying truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding is a life that will be filled with more peace, hope and joy. Our circumstances may not change, but our response to them will.
We buy what we need. We need to be sure we understand that what we need is truth, wisdom, and understanding. That is what we need to be focused on buying.
