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- the halfway point of the week. I trust the climb up the uphill so far hasn't been too bad, hasn't been too demanding on you.
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- But if it has, I trust the Lord has also given you grace for the climb. Well, so Forrest Fenn, he was, he is an 89 -year -old art dealer and author from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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- And a little over 10 years ago, in his late 70s, he got a little bored with life and decided he was going to mix things up and hide a treasure out in the
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- Rocky Mountains somewhere. Now, keep in mind, the Rocky Mountains, that's a range that's about a 3 ,000 -mile -long mountain range.
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- It starts in New Mexico and goes all the way up into northern Canada. And so he buried this treasure, worth over a million dollars, and wrote a book about it, entitled the book,
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- The Thrill of the Chase. And in that book, he contained a poem, and the poem had in it about nine different clues that could help would -be treasure hunters find the treasure.
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- So then, during the next 10 years, about 350 ,000 people went looking for that buried treasure somewhere.
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- And finally, last week, last weekend, somebody from out east discovered
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- Fenn's treasure. Now, with that incredible story as a background, we read yesterday
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- Proverbs 2, verses 1 to 5, which says this, My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the
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- Lord and find the knowledge of God. Do you notice that line, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures?
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- So, what is it that drives a third of a million people to go off into the
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- Rocky Mountains looking for a million -dollar buried treasure somewhere?
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- What drives them to do it? Well, yesterday, we stated the obvious. They want the money.
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- They want the wealth. And then we applied what Proverbs 2 says. If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, and the it that we're seeking after, as you recall, is the wisdom, the understanding, the insight that's found in God's revealed word.
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- And once found, the passage says, you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
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- Well, we need to ask ourselves, do I consider the contents of the box, if you will, to be worth intense pursuit?
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- Do I consider the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of God, the wisdom, understanding, and the insight that's found in God's word, do
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- I consider that to be worthy of intense pursuit? But then there's another reason, somewhat often pursuit offends treasure, and that reason is expressed in the title of the book he wrote,
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- The Thrill of the Chase. So some of the host of hunters that went off into the
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- Rockies they were as excited about the search itself as they were with the prospect of what they might find in the box.
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- These are the adventurers, the lovers of the outdoors. They're in it, not so much for the box of gold as for the love of the game, if you will.
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- I saw a Facebook meme yesterday that described women that might be cut from this cloth.
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- It said, some women want diamonds, others want a hammock, a campfire, and some peace and quiet.
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- Well, anyway, so some of the adventures, these who are in it just for the love of the game, if you will, these are the athletes who train religiously and they work diligently to gain the
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- Super Bowl ring or the Olympic gold medal. And once that's achieved, they don't just say, yay,
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- I finally got the treasure that I was after. No, they're back out on the practice field very shortly thereafter preparing for the next season or back in the pool preparing for the next race.
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- They're in it for the love of the game. These are the readers and the contributors to magazines like Backpacker and Outside magazines.
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- Sure, they love to be the ones that find the loot, but even if it eludes them, they go out on the hunt pursuing the treasure, even if the treasure eludes them, not all will be lost.
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- They will have found great treasure in the great outdoors, in the experience of it all.
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- And that's as much of an adventure, that's as much a pleasure to them as it is finding that great monetary wealth.
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- Now think about this in terms of our text in Proverbs 2. If you seek for that wisdom, understanding, insight of the
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- Word, if you seek for the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of God, like hid treasure or like silver, think about that.
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- I don't think we should ever be satisfied with simply pursuing the wisdom, insight, and understanding that God offers in His Word without actually acquiring it.
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- I don't think it's enough just to want to pursue it without acquiring it, no. However, I do think we can ask ourselves the question, do
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- I actually enjoy the pursuit itself? Well, let's ask ourselves a series of questions to kind of reach a conclusion about that.
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- Do you even own a Bible that is yours? I mean, it's your own copy of the
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- Scriptures? Does it, if you do, does it just sit on a bookshelf somewhere and it's picked up only occasionally to maybe wipe the dust off?
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- Do you spend time most days actually reading a portion of God's Word?
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- And is that few minutes precious to you? Do you ruthlessly protect those minutes?
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- Is it the highlight of your day? And then do you take advantage of opportunities to study the
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- Bible? You know, go a bit deeper rather than merely reading it. I'm not talking about acquiring a whole library of books that can help you dig, although there's nothing wrong with that.
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- I just am realistic enough to know that most people don't have the time or the resources to do such a thing, but you do have opportunities to go deeper than simply merely reading the surface of the
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- Word. I think, for example, of Bible study groups at your church. Do you take advantage of those things? Sunday school class, a weekday
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- Bible study, if that's an option for you? And what's your attitude about going to church in the first place?
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- Is your church one that has a Bible -centered approach to the preaching services, where the
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- Word is the center of your attention? Yes, to direct your attention to God, your focus to God, but what does our text tell us in Proverbs 2?
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- When we search for that wisdom and understanding and insight in God's revealed
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- Word, then we'll understand the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God. So is your attitude to church, about going to church, one that...I
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- mean, is it something you look forward to, or is it just part of your routine of life?
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- And yeah, you do it if you're up to it, if you feel like it. Is it something you endure? Do you take it or leave it?
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- What is your attitude about these things? See, those are the bigger question of, do
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- I really value that treasure? Do I really value it?
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- Do I enjoy even the pursuit of acquiring that treasure? So here's the thing.
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- 300 ,000 adventure lovers never found, over that, never found
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- Finn's treasure, and they had to content themselves with the pleasure of the pursuit.
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- But for you, listen, for you, here's the thing, as you truly enjoy pursuing the treasure of the wisdom, understanding, and insight that God offers in His Word, you'll also find what you're looking for.
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- It's not a treasure limited to just one person who's fortunate enough to unearth it.
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- No, everyone that enjoys the pursuit actually finds what they're looking for. So let me encourage you, enjoy the pursuit of seeking after the treasure of God's Word, of His wisdom, of His understanding,
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- His insight. Then you will understand, then you will know the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of the
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- Holy One. Well, let's pray and ask God to give us that kind of a desire and a passion and a delight in the searching for the treasure.
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- Let's pray. So our Father and our God, we do thank You for the great treasure that is
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- Your Word, for the great wealth that is contained in it, for those who will seek after it.
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- Give us a heart to seek. Give us a heart that loves the search. And this we pray in Jesus' name and for His sake.
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- Amen. All right, well, have a great rest of your way downhill today on this hump day.
