Proverbs 8:35, And Still More Blessings!
April 4, Proverbs 8:35
John 3:14-21; 31-36 “Your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3)
And Still More Blessings!
The claim in 35-36 could be true of none other than Jesus Christ. “These last two verses disclose their full meaning in relation to Christ, the Wisdom of God” (Kidner). Those who find Him find Life. What a claim! This is Life at its best, its highest, its noblest. He on whom you wait (v.34) is the author, the Dispenser of Life.
- The Life Promising: Find me (Wisdom), find life and favour of the Lord (v.35)! The theme of long-life is a familiar one, but the concept of God’s favour or pleasure appears here for the first time in this book. It is repeated, however, fourteen times in later chapters. This is also a recurring theme in John’s Gospel, is it not? Life belongs to those who belong to God (Pr. 10:10, 28). God’s Word puts this very simply. Either we love Wisdom and live, or else we avoid it [Him] and die. This is the life of grace, eternal life! It looks to the whole work of Christ, to what He wrought by His Death and Resurrection. To find Christ is to find all. It is not just this or that benefit, or victory over this or that sin, but Christ Himself, in us and for us (Jn. 15). As the lesson proceeds, and the loving progresses, so the life becomes truly filled with promise for here and now, and for all Eternity. How is this Life with a capital L, this Promising Life, to be achieved?
a. Setting Life’s No.1 Goal: For whoso finds me finds life (v.35a). Let this word speak convincingly to every young reader of these pages. Come to Christ, come early, at the dawn of life (v.17). The Lord preaches it: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God (Mt. 6:33). The Apostle practices it: This one thing I do (Phil. 3:13-14). The Holy Spirit has brought Paul’s once misdirected zeal and drive under His control. Paul now strives to achieve the goal for which God had apprehended (taken hold of, arrested) him. Paul’s No.1 Goal was settled by a God-inspired dedication: He declared, This one thing I do. This then meant a God-directed determination: There must be a forgetting and a reaching forward (straining after). This led to a God-blessed: destination: I press toward… Christ Jesus. His one passion is, That I may know him (Phil. 3:10). At the end of an extraordinarily eventful life Paul testifies: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21).
b. Seeking Life’s Not Gift: Shall obtain favour of the Lord (v.35b). A clue to this favour is found in Pr. 16:15, 19:12. It is like the latter rain and the dew upon the grass. How vital these are to the farmer in Palestine. Without them everything would wither and die. This dew, a moist west wind from the sea each night, seemed like a mysterious gift of heaven. Would not a shower from Christ make your life, though dry and withered now, turn green and beautiful? What can be more important than to secure the Sunshine of God’s Smile and Benediction of His Voice? Paul urged the deluded Corinthians to covet earnestly the best gifts (1 Cor. 12:31). He warns the Romans that the wages of sin is death, and then adds, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23). Make Christ your No.1 Goal and you will receive the No.1 Gift – God’s Well Done!
Thought: “Life at its best means putting God first” (J. Blanchard)
Prayer: Lord, send the dews of Heaven upon us now.