Proverbs 8:17
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
The Simplicity of Wisdom
This verse appears to require little explanation. Perhaps we should consider it a blessing that there is such simplicity in wisdom. There is also wisdom in simplicity. It makes it easy when something isn’t difficult to understand. Put simply, “God loves those who love Him.” While Scripture teaches and Jesus demonstrates that God offers His love to this fallen world unconditionally, God’s love has to be received, and it has to be reciprocated.
How to Love?
When as a teenager I found myself falling in love with my wife all I wanted to do was spend time alone with her. This was difficult for much of the year because I was serving at sea. The long absences made our time together even more precious. When I was home on leave and Marilyn wasn’t at work we spent as much time in each other’s company as we could. The longer I spent with Marilyn the deeper my love for her became; to the point that we knew we wanted to spend our lives together. We were married on 14 April 1979.
Progressing from Honeymoon
For our honeymoon Marilyn and I spent a week in the beautiful island of Guernsey, where I grew up. Walking together one day through the quaint streets of St Peter Port I was suddenly and completely overwhelmed with love for my wife. It was an incredible experience, a unique honeymoon blessing.
Every honeymoon has to end, but love between marriage partners should continue to grow. As love grows it changes. If it does not then there is a risk it may fail. After thirty-three years of marriage our love is very different to how it was during those carefree days of youth.
Equally, it is essential that our relationship with God progresses from the honeymoon period when we first came to know Him. It is vital that our love for God grows and develops, strengthening our relationship with Him. It doesn’t matter how far we have traveled on our faith journey. Regardless of how much we think we have grown, we still need to be overwhelmed by God’s love every day. But in addition to us receiving love from God, I truly believe that Proverbs 8:17 is stating that God desires to be overwhelmed by our love for Him.
How can we show God that we love Him? The answer is the second part of the verse:
Those that seek me early shall find me.
Why early? Because setting aside distractions and committing to spending time alone with God early each day shows that our love for Him is more important to us than anything else in our lives. Perhaps only then will we realize how important we are to Him. The Father of Jesus loves us very much.
Caitlin Klem
Chris Jordan
Daniel M. Klem
dawnlizjones
David
Grady Davidson
Jason Sneed
Michael Wilson
Nick
Anthony Baker
Katie Marie
Wally Fry
Proverbial Thought 
July 10th, 2012 at 8:39 am
When my wife and I met, I was practically homeless and going whereever God sent me. For the first two months we knew each other, I was near her for a total of two weeks. It helped so much in our relationship! We did a (mostly) traditional courtship, and our first kiss was at the altar. At only three years, we have an understanding of what you mean here.
We strive to make our committment to God more than what we have demonstrated for each other.
July 11th, 2012 at 12:55 am
Dan I sometimes think that getting married/honeymoon is like passing your driving test. Learning to drive only really begins when you have your licence and set out on the road without an instructor. Then stuff changes, bigger roads, faster cars, more and larger trucks hemming you in, new technology, etc., and you realise that you never stop learning. Which I believe is no different to our relationship with God.
July 10th, 2012 at 11:09 pm
Very inspiring, David. However, I wish my honeymoon could have gone like that. Our memories include fire alarms, rattling water pipes, and later an ever-present relative (which shall, for her sake, remain nameless).We just skipped over all the fun stuff and got right into the “sickness and in health” part, minus the health.
July 11th, 2012 at 12:52 am
Sorry to hear about the fire alarms and rattling pipes, and the sickness on your honeymoon Anthony. A seven-month trip at sea enabled me to save for our wedding, honeymoon, etc.
July 11th, 2012 at 1:08 am
A mother-in-law went on ours. People say my wife and I should write a book. Problem is, nobody would believe it.
July 11th, 2012 at 1:10 am
Anthony. You and Valerie should write a book.
February 7th, 2013 at 1:11 am
[…] love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.” (See David’s post on this Scripture HERE). In other words, if you want wisdom, love it, seek it, pursue it, and you will find […]