Treasures
Scripture Reading — Colossians 2:1-5
In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Smartphones put remarkable treasures at our fingertips. We can use these devices to make phone calls, send text messages, take photos, set up appointment calendars, search the Internet, and download vast amounts of music. With the addition of countless apps, the treasures in a smartphone are multiplied a thousandfold. I am a novice at finding all these treasures, so I often rely on my children and grandchildren to help.
Two months from today we will celebrate Christmas. Looking at the seemingly ordinary child Jesus in a manger, we would never guess that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are hidden in him. As a result, we rely on the Bible to reveal these treasures so that we may make use of them.
What is wisdom? Wisdom is personified in Proverbs 8 as being the right and best way to live. Wisdom was “the first of [God’s] works,” brought forth before the Lord created anything else in the universe. And wisdom finds its perfect expression in Jesus Christ. In him we find insight for daily life—how to distinguish right from wrong, the important from the unimportant, and the temporary from the eternal.
Knowledge has to do with understanding a subject. Jesus knows his Father, the Creator, intimately. When scientists begin to scratch the surface of all the wonders of the universe, I stand amazed at the knowledge and wisdom of God. What a lifelong task he has given us—to discover and use all the treasures hidden in Jesus!
Lord, you are the fountain of wisdom, knowledge, and truth. As we live and learn each day, may we find all we need in you. Amen.
About the author — Gerrit Bomhof
Gerrit Bomhof immigrated as a young child with his family from the Netherlands to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1954. He graduated from Trinity Christian College in 1972 and from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1976. He served as a pastor to five churches in Canada and retired in June 2017.
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