Nuggets

The demand for gold has driven the price up over $1,000 per ounce recently, though it is currently in a decline, which is probably a temporary pullback.

Demand for silver and precious and semi-precious gems has also soared. Of course, there is also great interest in all kinds of natural resources such as oil, natural gas, coal, oil shale, etc. Even "workaday" metals like copper are bringing record prices, which have become a motivation for thieves to steal copper from building sites, industrial sites and to even strip copper wire from the underground piping that supplies street lighting in many areas.

You may not be in the market for gold, but I'll hazard a guess that you have had feelings of uncertainty about the economy, no matter where you live and regardless of your financial status. It is a worrisome time.

This hunger for what folks think gold can bring isn't new. It has certainly played an important part, in the settlement of this country. Early explorers came to these shores seeking fabulous wealth based on legends and fables about the abundance of gold in the new world. Later on, in colonial days, the news of a gold discovery brought prospectors to the Carolinas, seeking their fortune in the early 1700's.

Who can forget the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill which set off the 1849 Gold Rush which enticed tens of thousands of fortune hunters to trek west to California? And then, in 1897 the Klondike Gold Rush brought thousands of fortune hunters north to Alaska?

Most of those intrepid prospectors did not strike it rich, but remote areas were settled, as the United States took shape from coast to coast and border to border.

So we see the desire for the wealth and power that mankind believes gold can bring has had a big impact and influence on our history. But, is it possible that these treasure seekers were looking in all the wrong places? Could it be that their search took them in the wrong direction, bringing them heartache and pain, not happiness or true prosperity?

King Solomon wrote: "How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver" (Proverbs 16:16). Using the personification of wisdom as a teacher, he also wrote, "Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her" (Proverbs 8:10-11).

The Apostle Paul instructed young Timothy: "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Notice, it is the love of money, that is, the inordinate desire for riches, that is the problem.

What is your priority? What are you seeking? If your quest is only for money and what it brings, you are headed in the wrong direction. There is a better way and you can find it in the Bible. Our Bible Study Course is worth your consideration. In it, you will find nuggets of wisdom and understanding, which are worth much more than gold, without using a pick and shovel. It's free of charge and you can find it online or order the printed copy at www.twbiblecourse.org.

Start your hunt for real treasure today.