"Buy Truth and Never Sell It" - WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "BUY" TRUTH?

Read Proverbs 23:23: "We do not find the truth in God's Word without effort.  We must be willing to make sacrifices are needed to obtain it.   As the wise writer of Proverbs notes, once we "buy," or acquire"truth,"  we must be careful not to "sell" or lose, it. Let us discuss what it means to "buy" truth and the price we may have to pay for it, so to speak.  We can thereby deepen our appreciation for the truth and strengthen our resolve never to "sell" it.  As we will see, buying truth is well worth the cost. 

Even something that is free may come at a cost.  The Hebrew word translated "buy" at can also mean  "acquire."  Both words imply making an effort or exchanging something for a item of value.  We might illustrated the idea of buying truth this way.  Let us say that a market advertises "Free Bananas."  Will those bananas miraculously appear on our table?  No. We have to make the effort to go to the market to pick them up.  Are the bananas free?  Yes, but we must spend the effort and take the time to go to the market.  ( note:  they are not really free, because if you drive, you have to use the gas that you have in your car, which costs money, not just the effort. Therefore, being logical and analytical, they are not really free and not worth the effort, unless you need to grocery shop to begin with. Anything "free" always comes with a cost that you may not realize it has. Also, anything that sounds too good to be true, is usually the case. Been there. You learn by experience.)   Similarly, we do not need money to buy truth.  However, we must make an effort to obtain it.

Read Isaiah 55:1-3: Jehovah's words recorded by Isaiah shed further light on what it means to buy truth. In this Bible passage, Jehovah compares  his word to water, milk, and wine. Like a drink of cool clear water, God's words of truth are refreshing. Also, just as milk strengthens us and helps children to grow, Jehovah's nourishing words strengthen us and help us to grow spiritually.  Further, Jehovah's are like wine. In what way?  In the Bible, wine is associated with rejoicing.  (Psalms 104:15) So by telling his people to "buy wine"  Jehovah assures us that living according to his words will make us rejoice.   What a beautiful way to illustrate the beneficial effects of learning and applying God's words of truth!  We could compare the effort to the price we pay.  So, then, let us consider five things that we may have to pay to buy truth.  

Next time: "Buy Truth and Never Sell It" - WHAT HAVE YOU GIVEN UP TO BUY TRUTH? 

From the jw.org publications