Treasure Digest

• Pillars of Wisdom: Skillful in Life
• 10 Daily Questions
• Why?
• Turning the Hearts: Problem Solver or Mound Maker?
• Didn't Christ Make All Meats Clean?
• Share your word treasures

Pillars of Wisdom: Skillful in Life

Everyone has heard stories about someone finding a genie in a bottle who offers to fulfill the finder's greatest wish. What would you do if God actually granted you your deepest desire? Three thousand years ago Solomon was crowned king over the kingdom of Israel. God appeared to him in a dream and declared, "Ask! What shall I give to you?"

Solomon praised God for the mercy shown to both his father David and himself. He was humbled by the task of ruling Israel and prayed, "...I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil." Solomon's request pleased God and He gave Solomon special wisdom (1 Kings 3:5-12).

The Hebrew word chokmah, translated "wisdom" in the English Old Testament, was used in a secular sense to denote someone as a skillful craftsman. It was used in a religious sense to denote someone who was skillful at using God's Word to live a practical life of obedience.

Points to Build On

The practical art of living is built on three foundational steps:

1. Gathering knowledge, which is the learning of information.

2. Developing understanding, which is the ability to discern what is true and important.

3. Growing in wisdom, which is the ability to practically apply knowledge and understanding.

A person can memorize a great deal of knowledge and not understand how that knowledge relates to others or specific situations. A person can have understanding, but not have the ability to practically apply what they understand.

Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, admonishes his son to seek wisdom as if it is great treasure. Wisdom isn't inherited through genetic code. It is learned through biblical study, personal experience and the observation of others. It is ultimately expressed in the daily choices we make in our relationship with God and neighbor.

Application

Since wisdom isn't an inborn trait, but is developed over time, a person must be dedicated to becoming wise.

First, pray for wisdom. In the New Testament the apostle James writes, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5).

Secondly, seek wisdom through knowledge. This includes daily Bible study, and a lifelong dedication to continued education in science, history, creative activities and the arts.

Thirdly, observe and analyze both your life and the lives of others to learn effective decision-making.

Gary Petty

Pastor of the Austin, San Antonio and Waco, Texas, congregations

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10 Daily Questions

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Well, I'm doing great! How about yourself?"

"Couldn't be better!"

Funny—we live in a superficial age; some of the phrases we use are clichŽs. We say them to be pleasant. But as Christians, we need to ask ourselves: How am I really doing?

1. Did I awake spiritual, in a happy prayerful attitude, and was I watchful to keep my mind from wandering this morning?

2. Have I this day kept my mind clean, my thoughts and contemplations on "the things above," in a continuous happy, positive, prayerful attitude?

3. Have I partaken three times today of spiritual food, by submissive Bible study and earnest prayer alone with God? Have I grown closer to God? Have I grown today in grace and knowledge?

4. Have I walked by faith, asking God for wisdom and guidance in all things, committing every little problem to Him, trusting Him with it?

5. Have I exercised self-discipline, denying impulse, doing what God's Word shows I ought to do instead of what I wanted to do?

6. Was my speech and conversation today kind, cheerful, soft?

7. Have I exercised patience today? Have I been charitable toward others, showing tolerance and love, or resentment, jealously, anger?

8. Have I, while putting spiritual interests first, been diligent in performing regular material duties today, doing my very best?

9. Have I made the most of my time, or have I been weakened by unwatchfulness?

10. What have I done for God's work and for others? Have I spent anything today to please self that might have been saved for God's cause?

These 10 daily questions were taken from an old coworker bulletin of the Radio Church of God (published by the late Herbert W. Armstrong), dated Feb. 14, 1941—over 64 years ago! But the questions remain as practical and as timeless as ever.

Daniel Roy Macaraeg

Davao City, Philippines, congregation

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Why?

This is one of several items received in the days after the shooting at a Living Church of God service March 12.

In this time of sorrow and unexplained death that took place in a suburban Milwaukee town, many are asking God, "Why?"

This is one of the most puzzling occurrences that has happened to a group of believers, and it has left so many traumatized. We do not have the answers as to why a man attending a church for many years would gun down the very people who loved and supported him. We must take comfort in the Scripture, knowing that God is in control.

I am reminded of Isaiah 55:9: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

God has not said we will be without pain or discomfort in this life. That is why He says: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).

We may not have the immediate answers to this brutal slaying, but we can rest in the fact that God will see us through. Our thoughts and prayers go out to every person touched by this terrible tragedy.

Lori Bryant

Joplin, Missouri, congregation

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Turning the Hearts
Problem Solver or Mound Maker?

A major key to happiness in marriage is the ability to deal with difficult issues that arise in a family. Some react to a difficult issue by denying there is a problem, while others "sweep it under the carpet" so they cannot see it. Whatever method one employs to avoid the obvious, the problem doesn't normally "just go away."

The effective way to handle difficulties or problems is to face them and work on them. This is what the problem solver will do in a relationship.

A mound maker on the other hand may buy some time by sweeping problems under the carpet, but eventually there will be a mound of problems that will find their way through the carpet.

The principle for problem solving is found in the instruction that Paul gave to the Ephesians regarding the armor of God. We are told to stand, not run or hide in the face of difficulty. (One exception is fornication, which we are advised to flee.) We are told to wrestle with difficulties also (Ephesians 6:12-16).

Jesus Christ taught us to take action as soon as possible in the account in Matthew 18:15. We are instructed to go to our brother if there is a difficulty (sin against us) so that we may resolve the matter. Inaction does not solve the problem, but action does.

So, how may we be problem solvers in our marriages and families?

1. Make sure you have the facts concerning the problem (Proverbs 18:17).

2. Pray for wisdom and understanding of the problem (James 1:5).

3. Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes (1 Corinthians 9:19-22).

4. Approach the situation with humility (Galatians 6:1).

5. Be willing to see any fault of your own in the matter and be willing to change (Matthew 7:1-4).

6. Be gracious and receptive to the views and responses of the other side (Colossians 4:6).

7. Be bold enough to seek to resolve the matter in a way that is acceptable and truthful (Acts 15:13-19).

Remember, to maintain happy, successful relationships, marriages and families, we must become problem solvers not mound makers.

Gary Antion

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Didn't Christ Make All Meats Clean?

An often-misunderstood passage is Mark 7:18-19. Here Jesus said: "Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" The subject here—made obvious from verses 2-5—was ceremonially unwashed hands, not which meats could be eaten. The purification of food referred to the way the body's digestive process eliminates minor impurities such as those that might be present from eating with unwashed hands.

The Pharisees, like Jesus and His disciples, ate only meat the Scriptures specified as clean. They objected, however, when Jesus and His disciples did not go through the Pharisees' customary ritual of meticulously washing their hands before eating.

Jesus, whose hands were sufficiently clean for eating even if not clean enough to meet the Pharisees' humanly devised standards, explained that the human body was designed to handle any small particles of dust or dirt that might enter it due to handling food with hands that hadn't been ritually washed.

He further suggested that, if the Pharisees were serious about wanting to obey God, they needed to revise their priorities. Cleansing one's thoughts, He said, is eminently more spiritually important than washing one's hands (verses 20-23).

The New International Version of the Bible renders the latter part of verse 19: "(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods Ôclean.')" The New American Standard Bible similarly offers: "(Thus He declared all foods clean.)" These translations stand in stark contrast to the King James and New King James versions, which indicate that the bodily digestive process purifies food as opposed to Jesus making a pronouncement reversing God's laws on which meats to eat. The New King James Version says that whatever comes into a man's body from outside "does not enter his heart, but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods" (verse 19). Which interpretation is correct?

The King James and New King James renditions best fit the context, which concerns eating with ceremonially unwashed hands rather than deciding which kind of flesh is suitable to be eaten. They also best fit the New Testament culture wherein Jews and Christians ate only clean meats.

In the original Greek the words "In saying this, Jesus declared" (NIV) and "Thus He declared" (NASB) are not present; translators have added them to explain what they think Mark intended and as a result have placed their own preconceived and mistaken interpretations on Jesus' words.

For More Information, see What Does the Bible Teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?

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Share Your Word Treasures!

Do you have any short items of biblical wisdom, humor or practical information that you would like to share in this section? Or if you have any suggestions, please contact United News, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027 or mike_bennett@ucg.org