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Proverbs: Everyday Guidance for Making Everyday Decisions
A seven-week study, starting May 27 in the free First 5 mobile app
Why won’t God just tell me what to do?
Life is full of choices. Some can drastically alter the course of our lives, and others affect our days in smaller ways. It’s easy to wish for God to write the answer in the clouds or audibly tell us what to do next, but when He doesn’t, then what? How are we supposed to know which decision is best, especially when there often doesn’t seem to be a clear right or wrong answer in the Bible?
If God has felt silent as you’ve sought His wisdom and direction, we have good news: Through the book of Proverbs, He gives us the guidance we need. In these scriptures, we get to see real-life examples of what it looks like to live in a way that honors Him. And we get to release ourselves from the pressure that comes with making decisions — by realizing He is still the One who is in control of the outcomes.
Today’s Teaching
Jesus Is Worth Every Sacrifice (Proverbs & Parables)
Jodie Niznik
Day: 5 | Plan: Proverbs 2024
Start Here: Matthew 13:44-46
Key Verse: Matthew 13:44 (ESV) "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
Major Moment: Jesus says it is wise to treasure what is eternally worthwhile.
Another week passed, and I found myself in church once again feeling encouraged by my pastor's wisdom yet disheartened by my struggle to give Jesus my whole heart. That Sunday, I resolved I wouldn't let another week pass without making Jesus my first priority. I knew sacrificial adjustments were in order. I started by asking God for help.
God did help me, but it wasn't easy. Persistent demands often attempted to intrude on the time I committed to reading Scripture and praying. Sometimes I gave in to the distractions. But notably, when I resisted distraction, the pressing matters still got resolved. And each time I chose God, He reinforced His trustworthiness and grew my love for Him.
Ultimately, Jesus taught me the wisdom of treasuring the eternal over the temporal. This is the lesson Jesus also taught His disciples in Matthew 13:44-46, which, much like the book of Proverbs, reveals how God defines true wisdom.
Every other week during our Proverbs study, we'll spend a day making connections between Proverbs and what Jesus taught in the New Testament through parables: short, symbolic stories that reveal God's Truth. In one of today's parables, a man found treasure buried in a field, sold everything he owned, and bought the field. In biblical times, a landowner was entitled to everything on and in his land, so buried treasure could only belong to the man if he owned the field. Likewise, Jesus also told a parable about a merchant who found a pearl of great value and sold all he had to acquire it.
Both of these choices would look foolish to others. Why sacrifice everything for one field or one pearl? But these men in the parables knew something others didn't: The field and the pearl held value that vastly exceeded the world's estimation. Similarly, following Jesus, like the treasure or the pearl, is worth every sacrifice we can make (Matthew 13:44-45).
We've learned from Proverbs to "treasure up [God's] commandments" (Proverbs 2:1) and "search for [wisdom] as for hidden treasures" (Proverbs 2:4), and Jesus echoes this call to wholeheartedly seek God no matter the cost. This doesn't mean we're required to sell all our worldly possessions; after all, Proverbs 3:9 says we can "honor the LORD with [our] wealth." However, we are to be willing to walk away from any worldly luxuries if it means walking toward God. For example, the Apostle Paul also gives us a model of sacrificial discipleship in Scripture. His life held every advantage for a Jewish man of his day (Philippians 3:4-7), but once he understood who Christ was, he joyfully gave up everything the world valued to follow Jesus (Philippians 3:8-11).
One may wonder why Jesus turned to parables, which can mimic riddles, to communicate Truth. Jesus Himself stated He was revealing Kingdom secrets to those with receptive hearts (Matthew 13:11), much like King Solomon said his proverbs would "give prudence to the simple" (Proverbs 1:4). Jesus' disciples had willing hearts but were often confused, so Jesus helped them understand the meaning of His parables (Matthew 13:36-37).
Today, as believers, we are gifted with the Holy Spirit to assist us in understanding God's Truth (John 16:13)! So let's ask Him to help us understand this today: Any sacrifice we make to follow Jesus will be well worth it.
Prayer: Lord, would You help us to make the sacrifices needed to give You our whole hearts? It's easy to be swayed by the desires and demands of the world, so we need Your help. Help us to see how following You is the best choice we can ever make. We ask that You give us the courage to say "no" to distractions that attempt to pull us away from You. And help us to remember the lesson of the treasure and the pearl: that You are worth any and every sacrifice we could ever make. In Jesus' name, amen.
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