Surely you Know!

Proverbs 30: 2-4

Agur was the compiler of a collection of proverbs found in Proverbs 30, which is sometimes known as the Sayings of Agur.  Verses 2-4 ask a question that needs to be asked by everyone, and these are those verses.  “Surely I am too stupid to be a man.  I have not the understanding of a man.  I have not learned wisdom nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.  Who has ascended to heaven and come down?  Who has gathered the wind in his fists?  Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?  Who has established all the ends of the earth?  What is his name, and what is his son's name?  Surely you know!”

Though you may not as yet ask that question, I do have the answer, may I share it with you?  For twenty-seven years of my life, I like Agur knew the answer, and if you had been able to look into my heart you would have seen a little boy full of fear playing the role of a man with a wife.  But I had not learned wisdom and did not have an understanding of the Holy One.  My barber asked me to attend a Bible Study with him, and he was not the Bible Study kind of guy.  So out of curiosity I went with him, and it was at a Holiday Inn at noon on a Wednesday, and before going to the Study, they went to the buffet with other businessmen who were only there to have lunch. 

 I was Baptist by birth, and at the age of 13, I joined the church and got to be on the role as a full-time Baptist, not sure what that means.  But I did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ; I’m not sure I even knew what that meant.  But Bibles were for church and to be read at home when my parents ask if we had done our lesson for Sunday school.  And these guys did not understand those rules, and yet all of them attended a Baptist church, I sure was hoping none of my business friends saw me with those guys with the Bibles.

We got into a little private room away from anyone who might have known me, and I put on my Sunday face and played the game of church.  All the time I was sure of one thing, this was my last Bible study, and I was almost sure my barber had lost a customer after cutting my hair for 13 years.  But God, yes, He had other plans, and I was back every Wednesday for the next six months.  And this is what I discovered; these men had a relationship with the Jesus I was only informed about.

For six months I had been trying to make a deal with God, but I discovered He was not into making deals.  One night in the town of Victoria, Texas after returning from the bar, I opened a hotel Bible and it opened to Romans 10:9-10, “Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead; you will be saved.  For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.”

After I read that I went to my knees and confessed that I’m a sinful man, and Lord I have nothing you need, but you have everything I need.  I did not come as a deal maker, but as a sinner who wanted nothing more than to be forgiven and have a personal relationship with God, like my barber and my dad.

Life is about choices, and when Moses turned over the leadership to Joshua, we find in Joshua 24:14-15, Joshua making both a statement and asking a question.  First this question to the people coming out of captivity; Choose Whom You Will Serve, the gods of wood and stone who could not see or hear, or the living God.  Then my statement is, for me and my house we will serve the Lord!

After so many generations, so much technology that is still the only choice a person has.  Jan and I chose for our home, our family to serve the Lord.  My prayer is that you and your family choose the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the apostles of Jesus who died on the cross for you and me and paid the full price for our sins.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice