If…Then

God’s Word is full of promises. He tells us that if we do things His way then what will follow will be good. He has a lot of “if – then” statements. He’s laid it out simply so it’s easy to understand. But it isn’t always so easy to do.

One place in scripture that really speaks to me is in Proverbs 2:1-5. It lays out a list of actions that we are encouraged to take and then it tells us what will result from those actions.

Proverbs 2:1-5

“My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding: For if you cry for discernment, lift up your voice for understanding: If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures: Then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.”

When I read those verses, I see several actions that the Lord encourages us to take. When we see words or phrases like: receive, treasure, attend, incline, cry out and speak out, seek and search, we must make a choice. We can choose to do those things or we can ignore them. But what might we be giving up if we chose to ignore God’s directions? Verse 5 says what we gain is the ability to discern the fear of the Lord and to discover the knowledge of God. Really? God really says we gain discernment and that we can discover His knowledge if we are willing to follow his instructions? Yes!

We must take Him seriously and when we do He has treasures for us that are not found anywhere else. Only God has all knowledge and He promises to share it with us when we do the things He’s told us to in the beginning verses of Proverbs 2. What an amazing offer! What are we waiting for?