Gold Rush - More Precious Than Gold

2011 Gold Rush

(More Precious Than Gold)

TCF Sermon Text

July 17, 2011

If you had a fire that destroyed everything, and you could save just a few things, what would you save? Unfortunately, we have a few families here in this church who understand that question from real-life experience, and not rhetorically, like the rest of us would.

Would you save your TV? Would you save your clothes? Would you save your furniture? Your appliances?

No, I think most people would tell you that, first, they’d make sure their loved ones were all safe. Then, I think, if they could do so safely, they would save things that represented important memories of loved ones – things that spoke something about people and memories: pictures, rings, mementos.

These important things represent a person, a relationship. They tell part of the story of that person’s life and our relationship with them. All the other things are replaceable.

But some of these things we’d prioritize in saving are not replaceable. There are things in our lives that we consider to be of great value. Absolutely precious to us. In the words of one commercial – priceless. More valuable than the things the world would normally consider valuable. More valuable than diamonds, or riches, or gold. We protect those things we value greatly. We miss them when they’re gone. These are the things in our lives that are precious – like family and relationships, and things that relate to those.

Just a few weeks ago, the VBS theme was Gold Rush. The idea was that the Rock of Ages, Jesus our Lord, is the most valuable thing we can know, or attain to, or desire. Much more valuable and precious than gold or silver or any material thing.

We can all think of those things that are precious to us. If you’ll turn with me to our scripture text this morning, we’ll read about something that’s more precious still, more to be desired than any of those things we could think of this morning.

Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from

the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

David, the psalmist, imagined the most precious thing, the most costly thing of his day. Gold - not just any gold, but a lot of it...and very pure gold. And essentially, what he’s saying in this Psalm, is that even though it’s true that gold is precious, it’s something that is desired, yearned for, longed for, very valuable, the Word of God is more precious still. It’s more to be desired, yearned for, longed for, than the most precious thing we could think of.

Now, if it’s true that the Word of God truly is more precious than gold, or as the New American Standard says, “more desirable than gold,” why would anyone need to encourage us to read it, study it, or hear it preached, or memorize it?

If someone came in here with a pile of money amounting to over $1 million...and said, it’s yours, do with it whatever you will....how much encouragement would we need to take it, use it, spend it?

I believe there are a couple of reasons we need a constant reminder to use, to take advantage of, this precious gift God has given us in His Word.

One idea is that abundance often causes complacency. We have an abundance of Bibles. Most of us have a couple dozen in our homes, different translations, different sizes. We have children’s bibles, men’s study bibles, women’s study bibles, teen study bibles, you name it, we have it.

Now, there’s certainly isn’t anything wrong with having all these kinds of bibles in our homes. I think it’s great, and I’m thankful for the abundance we have. But it’s ironic that in so many of our homes, we have so many Bibles, and so many of us don’t use them regularly.

Research shows that the majority of all born-again Christians read the Bible once or twice a week, or not at all. According to one study, only 18% of all Christians said they read the Word every day. Another 18% read the Bible between three and six days a week. 37% read it once or twice a week. 23% of Christians don’t read their Bible at all.

I don’t know where you fit into these statistics, and I don’t want a show of hands. But as we look at David’s Psalm here this morning, in which he outlines for us why God’s word is so precious, so much to be desired, think honestly, before God, where do you fit into these statistics?