Buy And Hold
Proverbs 23:23 NKJV
23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Our verse for today sounds like the advice you would get from a financial planner advising on a stock purchase. If the stock is a good one, you want to buy it and hold on. Joy’s mom, who is in heaven now, had no formal education past high school. But she had a great eye for good stocks and would buy and hold for years. She regularly outperformed the stock market. When my son Matt would talk with her about selling, she was adamant about holding and usually correct. Solomon is advising his son to buy and do not sell something more valuable than stocks.
Solomon had a great respect for truth and wisdom. When the Lord asked him what he wanted from the Lord, Solomon asked for wisdom to lead God’s people. Of all the things he could have asked for, wisdom came to his heart first. The fact that Solomon asked for wisdom instead of fame, honor, riches, or the death of his enemies pleased the Lord. Solomon’s request pleased the Lord so much that God gave Solomon what he did not ask for. The result was that not only was Solomon the wisest man of his era, but he was also given great wealth and peace from his enemies. Solomon asked for wisdom and received wisdom and then some. So it’s easier to see why he placed such great importance on wisdom.
Solomon did value wisdom, but in this proverb, he prioritized truth. And truth is so worth having. Jesus said if we would stay in His Word, we would know the truth, and the truth that we know and act upon will make us free. Jesus also said that the truth would sanctify or separate us from the world and that God’s Word is truth. Paul, when discussing the armor of God, starts with the belt of truth. And Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Receiving truth is directly connected to the Lord and is the gateway to wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Solomon instructed his son to buy the truth. So evidently there is a cost to truth. As with most spiritual things, truth will not come to those who do not have a heart for it and the humility to receive it. Truth does not come to the uninterested but to those who hunger for it. And when truth comes, as with wisdom and understanding, hang on for dear life. Or better yet, hang on for a good life.