Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. (Proverbs 23:23—NKJV)

With each new year our thoughts turn to resolutions for our personal betterment. It is quite natural to mark the turning of the year with some genuinely virtuous resolve, but why only once a year? Why not allow the observation of communion with your local church family to be a once-a-month judgment and confession of your thoughts, words, and deeds, and ask God for the resolve to live more holy and set apart unto Him? Why not dedicate each Lord’s Day (the first day of the week) to sit under the hearing of God’s Word, and resolve to be transformed by the Grace of God? Why not approach your daily devotions in the Bible and prayer in order to be molded by the hand of the Father? New resolutions ought to follow confession of sin and worship on a daily basis.

It is with this burden that our passage addresses both a macro and a micro resolve for the believer. The pursuit of truth is both a lifelong and a daily pursuit. It is to be the stuffing of life’s resolutions, whether viewed on the grand scale of a life well-lived for God’s glory (Matthew 25:21), viewed as an annual personal review for improvement (2 Corinthians 8:10), or viewed up close in the “daily grind” (Romans 12:1, 2).

The proverb of Solomon authoritatively challenges the believer to pursue truth with resolve. “Buy” is in the imperative form. It means to get, gain, acquire, and to possess. The English word conjures up the idea that there is some personal cost and yet its fulfillment produces security and increase.

Acquisition of truth is just like a purchase. You do your homework to find the best; you find the places where it is available; you weigh the costs; and you appropriate the purchase to yourself. Holding the truth is fully rewarding, for the Hebrew word (literally the basis for our word “Amen”) means faithful, firmness, constancy, the keeping and executing of truth as opposed to falsehood (Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies), integrity and uprightness.

Is it any wonder that our Lord Jesus (the “Amen” of Revelation 3:14) states in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.”? Owning and being owned by the Lord through faith in Him is the most significant “purchase” in anyone’s life.

Solomon continues with the admonition “sell it not.” We are all familiar with the selling of things, but the biblical word also applies to the selling of persons as well. This is a subtle reminder that we need to be careful of selling ourselves into servitude of sin and Satan. There are purchases that you can spend a lifetime to pay off.

The purchase of “truth” is in tandem with the acquiring of wisdom (acquire the habit of wisdom, discerning between good and evil, exercising correct judgment, being teachable), instruction (to be bound by correction and be reformed), and understanding (to separate, distinguish, to mark, hence to perceive through insight, intelligence and skill). Following the progression of these words causes you to be resolved to pursue God’s truth in all its forms by being molded by His instruction, bound by His instruction, and acting on His instruction.

What resolutions are you formulating in your life? What price are you willing to pay for the sake of truth? Do you have an allegiance to the Truth in Jesus Christ, and is that allegiance transforming you with every passing day? Trust and obey.