If you seek [wisdom] as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord. —Proverbs 2:4-5
ODB tells the following story:
On January 1, 2008, Keith Severin and his 7-year-old son, Adrien, agreed that they would spend at least 15 minutes every day that year searching together for treasure. Carlos Alcalá’s article in the Sacramento Bee described how they went out each day in every kind of weather to see what they could find. A year later their collection of coins, golf balls, recyclable bottles and cans, and various other items had yielded more than $1,000. In the process, they enjoyed many hours of companionship and fun.
If we decided to spend 15 minutes a day searching for treasure in the Bible, what would we find? Solomon wrote: “If you seek [wisdom] as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. . . . Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path” (Prov. 2:4-5,9).
For me, 2010 will be another wonderful treasure hunt... seeking God's wisdom... for me for at least 30 minutes a day in prayer, reading, and reflection... especially important for me right now as I need to understand 'every good path' and ask God for His guidance.
Discovery 1:
Eve: A Suitable Companion
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."...
But for Adam [j] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [k] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [l] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, [m] '
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. -Genesis 2:20-25
From the very first marraige in the Bible, we can learn a lot about marraige. The reason for marraige was to find a suitable helper.
First, God realized that humans have this innate tendencies for loneliness, that we don't want to be alone, that we want to be with someone, to share our lives with someone. "God saw that that it [was] not good for man to be alone." (Note that this companionship can come in many forms- friends, family, church, etc. But the first relationship we see here is what we would liken to present day marraige.)
Also, unlike the other animals, a suitable helper couldn't simply be 'found.' A treasure hunt wouldn't suffice. So, a helper needed to be created. Formed from a part of the same flesh and bones, God went through the process of a new creation. That's how important this helper was.
And, the narrator notes that this important union is the reason why man and woman unite and leave father and mother and become one. Here we note that they weren't ashamed of their nakedness, but I believe it's also important to be shameless in many other respects. Shame makes us cover mistakes and aspects of ourselves, feelings and thoughts become hidden away. But being truly open and transparent and unashamed leads to openness in the relationship.
Discovery 2:
Mary: Filled with the Holy Spirit
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins." -Matthew 1:18-21
One thing I recognize here is something that has changed recently. Mary was "pledged to be married" to Joseph. She wasn't yet married to Joseph. But, even so, they refer to 'breaking the engagement' as "divorcing" Mary. Now, we would be hard-pressed to hear anyone make reference to a broken engagement as a 'divorce.' But that was how serious the commitment was at that point.
Also, I never realized that the angel never forced or commanded Joseph to take Mary as his wife. He merely states, "Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife." The decision was up to him. That was how much he loved Mary, or perhaps the angel's visit finally convinced him of how special she was. The woman with a child, Joseph still loved her.. and proved his love even more in taking her and her child Jesus and his newlywed who couldn't yet be "his."
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