“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip” Hebrews 2:1

The truth that saves the soul is not picked up as we would pick up the pebbles along the brooks or a sea shell along the beach, but it is obtained rather as gold and silver through diligent search digging and the enlightenment of the Spirit. Solomon says: “If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hidden treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God” (Prov 2:3-5). The person who seeks to obtain the truth in God's Word need much prayer for the Spirit of wisdom and revelations and self-denial in laying aside his own past-time activities and dig into God's Word. One of the legacies of David to his son Solomon was: “Keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God” (1 Chron 28:8).

We take for granted for the men and women who are full of the truth. The fact of the matter is that they have not become so by passively reading God's Word at their spare time. They have searched for the truth to know more of Christ and to be found in Him (Phi 3:10-11); they have longed for it more than for their necessary food; they have sacrificed all for it as the apostle Paul did in counting all else as dung that he may gain Christ (Phi 3:8). They have counted not their lives dear unto themselves that they might know the Lord and be conformed to Him. Wealth, ease, a name among men, reputation, pleasure, everything the world has to offer, are nothing but dung and dross in the eyes of God as well as those who share His vision in their pursuit of God's truth, which can be said to be the pursuit of that which satisfies the longing of God's heart. It is not the pursuit of some mere knowledge, but the pursuit of a more intimate fellowship with God and joy unutterable and perfect peace. Indeed, it is God's desire that all men should not only be saved, but to come to the FULL knowledge of the truth (1Tim 2:4).

Having thus obtain the truth, we need to be aware that there is a costs to be maintain continually to hold on to the truth. It requires constant watching and praying to walk according to the truths that we have been granted. Hence, Hebrews 2:1 warns us: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip.” The most beautiful brids of paradise have wings and, if unguarded, will fly away. Likewise it is with truth. It will slip away if not earnestly kept, treasured and practiced by the Lord's grace. “Buy the truth, and sell it not” (Prov 23:23). How do we sell the truth of lose it? It usually slips away gradually little by little. It is lost as leaking water is lost – not all at once, but by a little words here and there that's not spoken out of grace and seasoned with salt, and a little compromise here and there. Almost imperceptibly, the enemy will sap us of the truths we have gain in the Lord. For this reason, the Lord's counsel to the church in Philadelphia was to: “...hold fast what you have that no one take your crown.” The implication is clear that there is a possibility of losing that which we have already gained; hence, there is a need for us to “hold fast to what we have.”

As I alluded above, one of the areas that we need to watch particularly which is a source of much leakage in our lives is in the area of speaking. We are told to not give way to “foolish talking and jesting, which are not becoming, but rather giving of thanks” (Eph 5:4); in other words, it is not befitting for us Christians to engage in such foolish talking and jesting, as they will promote ungodliness. God's Word tells us that “Life and death are in the power of the tongue” (Prov 18:21), and that we must let our “speech be always with grace seasoned with salt” (Col 4:6). Let us not forgot the solemn words of our Lord Jesus, “that for every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt 12:36).

How else shall we who have the truth prevent it from slipping?
Let us consider what God commanded Joshua to shed some light on this matter: “Meditate therein day and night.” For what purpose? “That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein” (Josh 1:8). The “blessed man” of David is not only a “man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night” (Psa 1). We read the Word not to satisfy our intellectual curiosity, but to put into practice what the Lord has shone on us through His Word.

Another implication from the exhortation that we need to meditate in God's Word day and night is that we must read and read and re-read the Bible. By constantly refresh our mind with its truths, we gain mastery of God's Word just as a diligent attorney who wishes to succeed in his profession constantly studies his law books and cases or the doctor his medical works. The truth will surely slip, if you do not refresh our mind by constantly reading and meditating in the Bible, because the Bible is God’s recipe book for making holy people. Furthermore, by saturating our minds with the Word of God, we will gradually have the mind of Christ, because His thoughts are contained in His Words. Since our mind is the leading part of our soul, the minds of Christ that dominates us will then be expressed in our emotions, our speech, and in the decisions and directions chosen by our will. John Wesley, in his old age, after having read and read and re-read the Bible all his life, said of himself: “I am homo unius libri”—a man of one book – spoken in reference to the Bible. If we are to be a man of any one book, it should be the Bible. This will by no means make us narrow-minded, but quite the contrary. Since our God is the Omniscient God, and His thoughts pertaining to man are compiled into the Bible, we can only have a universe of knowledge expanded on our horizon when we delve into the His Word.

Let us dig for truth as men dig for gold, and search for her as for hidden treasures. God “is a Rewarder of all that diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6). This may be hard work, but the reward of gaining Christ Himself is far greater than any reward we can gain in this age. This may be slow work as is to searching for hidden treasure. We should never be discourage by the slow process, for we are assured with these words: “Seek and you shall find” (Luk 11:9). Having thus gain the treasure, we should make certain that we do not lose it by giving ground to the enemy to chip away at what we have spent years in building by heeding the Word of God in our living and by not allowing any lose words to issue out of our mouths that is not seasoned with grace.