the-parable-of-the-gold-miner

“Surely there is a mine for … gold. … Man puts an end to darkness, and to the farthest limit he searches out the rock in gloom and deep shadow. He sinks a shaft far from habitation, forgotten by the foot; they hang and swing to and fro far from men. The earth, from it comes food, and underneath it is turned up as fire. Its rocks are the source of sapphires, and its dust contains gold. … He puts his hand on the flint; he overturns the mountains at the base. He hews out channels through the rocks; and his eye sees anything precious. He dams up the streams from flowing; and what is hidden he brings out to the light. But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:1-12)

The Parable of the Gold Miner A gold miner enters an old mine shaft abandoned by its previous worker but which he believes holds promise of a hidden but rich lode. He takes his pick in hand and begins to pound away at the rock face with mighty swings. Day after long day, he slams that pick into the rock, every time hoping a newly dislodged chunk will reveal a vein of gold. Yet, just as often, as he hauls out those rocks to the light and inspects them for signs of gold, he is disappointed to find that only the same worthless rocks have been exposed by the blows of his pick. His work is grueling and dusty. He exists in a dark and lonely world. His only company is his tool, and the only sound he hears is that of his own labor. Hunger and weariness replace the passing sun as the only reminders of the lapse of time. Worst of all is the struggle in the arena of his own mind as he wrestles with the knowledge that all his effort and sacrifice might well be nothing but a waste. Yet, he does not quit. He knows that nothing can more certainly render all his endeavors vain than to surrender to d o u b t and discouragement. Who knows? Perhaps the treasure he seeks lies just behind that rock face, where it awaits just one or two more strikes for its discovery. Only his continued digging will tell. It has been said that “the only bad question is the one that has not been asked.” This is not entirely true. It is possible to ask a bad question, especially if its result, or even its motivation, is to discredit the truth, distract and dissuade others from it, or promote falsehood. Paul refers to “controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions” (1 Tim. 6:4) and tells Timothy to “refuse ignorant and foolish speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23). Nevertheless, an important vein of truth runs through the foregoing assertion. It is by asking questions that people learn, if only by finding out that some questions do not yield to answers which are attainable by humans. Even that knowledge can be important, and it is knowledge that cannot discovered without the effort. Furthermore, it is often in the search for knowledge which turns out to be unattainable that some uncover important information they were not seeking and which might never have been uncovered had that effort to find answers to other questions not been made. As it is with this gold miner, so it is with the truth-seeker. Answers to his questions might long have eluded him, but still he seeks them. He never knows but that one more effort might reveal them. He cannot know if he can know the answer to a question unless he asks it. God’s word holds hidden treasures which can only be revealed if the seeker tries to find them. Indeed, the Psalmist said, “…The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold …” (Psa. 19:9,10). Any time a person picks up the Bible to read it with a good and honest heart, no matter how many times he has read it before, he can be confident that new discoveries of its riches await him.

The Parable of the Gold Miner A gold miner enters an old mine shaft abandoned by its previous worker but which he believes holds promise of a hidden but rich lode. He takes his pick in hand and begins to pound away at the rock face with mighty swings. Day after long day, he slams that pick into the rock, every time hoping a newly dislodged chunk will reveal a vein of gold. Yet, just as often, as he hauls out those rocks to the light and inspects them for signs of gold, he is disappointed to find that only the same worthless rocks have been exposed by the blows of his pick. His work is grueling and dusty. He exists in a dark and lonely world. His only company is his tool, and the only sound he hears is that of his own labor. Hunger and weariness replace the passing sun as the only reminders of the lapse of time. Worst of all is the struggle in the arena of his own mind as he wrestles with the knowledge that all his effort and sacrifice might well be nothing but a waste. Yet, he does not quit. He knows that nothing can more certainly render all his endeavors vain than to surrender to doubt and discouragement. Who knows? Perhaps the treasure he seeks lies just behind that rock face, where it awaits just one or two more strikes for its discovery. Only his continued digging will tell. It has been said that “the only bad question is the one that has not been asked.” This is not entirely true. It is possible to ask a bad question, especially if its result, or even its motivation, is to discredit the truth, distract and dissuade others from it, or promote falsehood. Paul refers to “controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions” (1 Tim. 6:4) and tells Timothy to “refuse ignorant and foolish speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23). Nevertheless, an important vein of truth runs through the foregoing assertion. It is by asking questions that people learn, if only by finding out that some questions do not yield to answers which are attainable by humans. Even that knowledge can be important, and it is knowledge that cannot discovered without the effort. Furthermore, it is often in the search for knowledge which turns out to be unattainable that some uncover important information they were not seeking and which might never have been uncovered had that effort to find answers to other questions not been made. As it is with this gold miner, so it is with the truth- seeker. Answers to his questions might long have eluded him, but still he seeks them. He never knows but that one more effort might reveal them. He cannot know if he can know the answer to a question unless he asks it. God’s word holds hidden treasures which can only be revealed if the seeker tries to find them. Indeed, the Psalmist said, “…The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold …” (Psa. 19:9,10). Any time a person picks up the Bible to read it with a good and honest heart, no matter how many times he has read it before, he can be confident that new discoveries of its riches await him .