I’ve been struck by a thought this morning. A sweet, comforting thought. Right now, we are living during a time when our world and our nation is in chaos because of the depravity of man, because of our sin natures. We have lived and continue to live in a world that wants nothing to do with God, that has taken God out of schools and businesses, that takes the Word of God and adds to or takes away from His Word, which makes it no longer His Word, but an abomination, full of deceit.

That’s not my comforting thought, by the way, that’s the heartbreaking one. But as I was reading Proverbs 2, the Lord brought to my mind a question: What does it mean to truly live?

In Proverbs 2, Solomon begins by pleading with us to “make [our] ear[s] attentive to wisdom” and to “incline [our] heart[s] to understanding” (vs. 2). He says, “If you seek her (wisdom) 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” (vs. 4-5).

But where do we find wisdom?

We find that answer in verses 6 – 8:

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones.”

How Does This Connect with Truly Living?

In verses 20-22, it says, “So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land and the treacherous will be uprooted from it.”

“For the upright will LIVE in the land.” The word ‘live’ grabbed me this morning. Well, living “in the land”, if we think about this world and our circumstances, doesn’t sound too comforting, does it? The world is filled with so much darkness. And yes, we as believers are promised eternity with Christ in His kingdom one day, but the reality is, we are here right now, and we are called to be a light in the darkness (Matthew 5:13-16). We are not promised an easy life but are actually warned that we will face persecution and be hated by the world (II Timothy 3:22 and Matthew 5:10). We are not promised world peace or a perfect world, because that does not and will not exist because of sin (James 4:4 and I John 2:15).

But you know what believers are promised? We are promised that if we obey His commands and seek after His wisdom, WE WILL LIVE!

God is Wisdom, Truth, and Life, and His wisdom and life go hand in hand. One cannot exist without the other. Truly living is not measured by how much money you make or what kind of job you have or how many friends you have or how much stuff you own. Truly living is not even measured by all your most treasured memories. Truly living has nothing to do with the state of our world but everything to do with the condition of our hearts. Truly living is based upon and stems from seeking after God’s wisdom and clinging to it. It comes from making His commandments your most valued treasure. And the Lord promises that if we seek after His wisdom, we will find it. “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright” (vs. 7). You see? His wisdom has already been stored up for us. All we are called to do is to seek after Him with our whole hearts (Matthew 22:37). And then, we will truly live.

Isn’t that a precious comfort through the storm?