Digging for Gold

"In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:3) This verse is part of our theme verses for this blog. So how do you find these treasures? Jesus gave us a hint in John 15:7-8 - "If you remain in Me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." Remaining or abiding in Christ is key to answered prayer and to Christian maturity (fruit-bearing), so that people will know that we are learning from Him (discipleship). A major component of this abiding is the taking in of His Word. Since Jesus was steeped in the Old Testament Scriptures in His teaching and could show the twelve, after His resurrection, how He could be found in the entire Old Testament, and since later He tells the apostles that the Holy Spirit will remind them of everything He said as well (our New Testament), I believe He wants us to be saturated with the whole Bible. We will find all of the treasures of Christ, both in the types and shadows of the Old Testament as well as in the full and final revelation of the New Testament.
     But here is where the paradox comes in. I, for one, do not buy this idea that the Bible is full of contradictions. People who say this simply do not take the time to research apparent contradictions in order to find that the law of contradiction is never violated in God's Word. However, Scripture IS full of paradox.
     In this case, the paradox is shown in two passages. The first is in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. "However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived - the things God has prepared for those who love Him' - these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit."
     Now it is always tempting to apply this quote from Isaiah 64 to heaven. But in context, Paul is not talking about heaven, but about truth. He is saying that the truth of Scripture cannot be figured out by either inductive or deductive reasoning, or logic. It can only be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit - like when Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood had not revealed that to him, but the Father. We can only know what God has for us to know if He chooses to reveal it to us - and He has. BUT...
     The other side of the coin is in Proverbs 2:1-5: "My Son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding - indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
      Look at the energy and effort described here: Accepting (welcoming) it, storing it up (memorization); turning your ear and applying your heart (meditation); calling out and crying aloud (praying as we read and listen); searching and looking (hard, careful, diligent study, comparing Scripture with Scripture, checking context, watching the grammar, etc.). That's when we will understand and find the treasure. Yet verse 6 echoes 1 Corinthians 2. "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
     So there's the paradox. We can only find the treasures of Christ in His Word if God reveals them to us. But He will only reveal them to us if we are in an attitude of seeking and digging. Yet when we have sought and dug, we will, in the end, find it only because He reveals them to us. But He will not reveal them to the lazy and idle - only to the diligent.
     So we dig and scratch and search, even as we abide and listen and pray. And then we will begin to see the treasure and put things together and see the wisdom of God's eternal plan. This is the only way we will be able to have the Bible shed light on our day-to-day living, with each day's joy and pain, and gradually move forward in maturity, becoming more like Him as we get closer to home.
     The treasure is here, right before us. "X" has already marked the spot. We just have to start some serious digging and then humbly wait for him to show it to us, one gem at a time.
     "And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's start digging like this is true.