Becoming a Pirate

I read this verse this morning: “If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:3-5).  I think it's an interesting comparison to tell us to pursue God with the same passion with which we pursue money.  Most of us spend at least 40 hours per week at our jobs, essentially "pursuing money."  Making a living is certainly not a bad thing; in fact, God says that a man who will not work should not eat (2 Thess. 3:10).  But do I pursue God with greater (or even equal) passion?  Do I put Him first in my life, give Him recognition as the real thing that sustains me?  We work at our jobs to make money to live and we consider that a necessity, a given, a non-negotiable.  But how much more does God sustain us?  "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  Without Him we wouldn't be able to take our next breath. 

Verse 4 (above) says, "Search for [the knowledge of God] as for hidden treasure."  I imagine myself in a pirate movie, with a treasure map, on a mad hunt for a trunk full of gold doubloons.  This is how we are to pursue God!  His law is "more precious than gold, than much pure gold" (Ps. 19:10).  Our true wealth is found in relationship with Christ.  He should be the number one passion in our lives, the treasure we search for with the intensity of a pirate searching for buried loot.  So grab your peg leg and your eye patch and let's start searching for some eternal treasure!