Garage Selling Truth

Garage Selling Truth

Did you hear about the couple who bought a $3 garage sale bowl worth $2.2 million?  It turned out to be a 1000 year old artifact from China’s Northern Song Dynasty.  How it was preserved all these years is a wonder in itself, but that someone sold it for $3 is just as astonishing!

Really, I think it could happen to anyone uninformed of the value of what’s before them.  In John 4:10, Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God…” to the woman he was talking with about spiritual eternal life.  She didn’t know the value of Jesus at that point and nearly missed his gift.

“Buy the truth, and do not sell it,” Solomon wrote (Prov. 23:23).  In light of the garage-sale bowl, I needed the reminder of the value of the truth.  Spending time learning how to improve one’s life and relationships is an investment in the truth.  Garage selling it away might be a temptation when something easy comes along. 

I like to remind my clients (and myself) to hang on to what they’ve learned.  They’ve paid for it in multiple ways: time, practice, money, difficulties.  It’s valuable.  Don’t be tempted to give it up for the equivalent of a cup of McDonald’s coffee and pie.  It’s sad when the knowledge of healthy living is traded for affairs, addictions, and attitudes of anger.  There’s pain in that.

Here are four ways I seek to keep the value of the truth in my own life.

1. I daily spend time reading the Bible.   It’s a reminder of the truth and what has value.  It’s a way to meet with Jesus himself and know more of the “gift of God.” 
2. I take notes in a journal and review them from time to time.  It’s a treasure log, if you will. 
3. I turn it into prayer.  For example, using John 4:10 I ask, “Lord, help me know the gift of God that is before me in my day.  Help me see Jesus today.”
4. I talk about the truths I’m discovering.  The conversations with friends and family help me treasure truth.

Buy the truth and never sell it.  It never declines in value.  It can be handed down as an heirloom or legacy to those coming behind us.  Treasure truth.  It will protect you from trading it up for something cheap.