“My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.”
Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV
NOTE: We are working through these five verses section by section. We covered the first point here.
The second condition: If we want to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (vs. 5), the second thing we must do is make our ears attentive to wisdom and incline our hearts to understanding. This is a matter of intentionality.
We need to actively pursue wisdom and understanding by intentionally listening for wisdom. But, this is unlikely to happen if we don’t, first, shape our hearts. In this context, Solomon isn’t suggesting we stand at the bus stop and listen in to the conversations of random people. While there can certainly be a circumstance or occasion in which we could gain wisdom this way, I think Solomon has something different in mind. His point is not to look for random opportunities to gain wisdom. Rather, he’s suggesting we intentionally shape our hearts toward receiving wisdom, then actively listening for wisdom.
Making our ears attentive to wisdom is a heart matter and a personal discipline. The personal discipline element is built upon a heart commitment to listen, to receive instruction and correction. Later (13:1), he describes this heart/ear connection like this: “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
How can you shape your heart to be receptive to wisdom? How can you train your ear to listen to wisdom?
[…] NOTE: We are working through these five verses section by section. We covered the first point here and the second point here. […]