Listen to counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of your days. Proverbs 19:20 Two things that are key to being wise are counsel and discipline. If you will heed these two things in your life, you will be wise. According to today's proverb - your wisdom will be with you for the rest of your life. The first of these two things that bring us wisdom is listening to counsel. The word for listen here is "sama" and it means listenting with a bent to obey what you hear. God used this word in Deuteronomy 6:4 when He said to Israel, "Hear O, Israel," and proceeded to call Israel to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. This was not meant as advice that could be received or rejected. When God called His people to "hear," He meant to hear with a view to obeying what they were about to hear. Wise men "hear" counsel from God and others who love Him - and do so knowing that they will also obey. When we do this we are not listening in order to pass judgment - or to correct all the things that may be wrong in what is being said. We are listening so that we can gather action points which will result in a more specific and joyful obedience to God. One of the blessings of my life has been having godly men there to teach me and give me good, biblical counsel. Another blessing has been that I had such respect for them as men of God that I rarely if ever thought of questioning anything they said. My heart was set on obeying them as soon as they spoke. They were godly men! Why should I question what they said? Men like John Dale, Brother Russell, and pastor Al spoke with great authority because they used Scripture to make their point. Hearing godly counsel always went hand in hand with obeying what I heard. I felt like I was not wise enough to question them . . . therefore obedience was what I expected to be my response. I've watched others though, who do question counsel. They do not listen with a bent to obey. They listen with a bent to question everything. In some situations this can be a positive thing - especially when the one counselling you is ungodly - or you get a quick check in your spirit about something that was said. But when you are with godly mentors and people who have consistently offered good counsel - it can be unwise. If we are busy questioning the counsel given - we probably won't know how to apply that counsel in practical ways. The second thing mentioned here is to accept disciplline. "Musar" is the Hebrew word for discipline - and it is an old friend to us as we walk through Proverbs. Just as a reminder, it means child training from a father. The idea is that we are being not only instructed - but practically guided into a way of choosing. It means corrective as well as instructive discpline. When we move outside certain moral paths - there is corrective action and instruction to help us get back on track and away from moral failure. We are to accept this discipline - to receive it and take it on willingly. We are to be willing to be trained by it - even if the training can be painful at times. The second half of this proverb actually offers the reward of these two actions. It is a Hebraism that speaks of being wise in the latter end of our lives. When we listen to obey godly counsel - our latter days will be blessed with wisdom. When we accept discpline and submit to the boundaries it provides we will be blessed to be wise in our latter days. The path of our lives will be blessed. The direction of our lives will be wise and filled with understanding. These are things people see in someone and want. They see a wiser man or woman and wish they were wise like them. The problem may come in that they think the wisdom came to them naturally - or was some kind of inherited trait. That is just not true. Wisdom comes when a person listens and obeys others wiser than themselves. It requires humbling ourselves and seeing problems and wrong ideas in our own thinking and working to change them. It requires being disciplined (even spanked when you were little) and learning from it. Wisdom comes to us because we choose to learn - even learn from very hard lessons and difficult moments. The path to wisdom is never easy - at least to the ones who are proud and who tend to bow-up when they are taught or corrected. But for the ones who humble themsevles under godly instruction - and submit themselves to painful lessons - wisdom abounds - and continues to do so all their days.
The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous. Proverbs 15:29 This proverb explains for us who God is near and the ones from whom He keeps His distance. It is a frightening thing to me to read that Jehovah is far from the wicked. Note that this does not say that the wicked man is far from God - but that God is far from him. Since this proverb has to do with prayer - we are talking about a wicked man and his prayers (if he has any at all). The only prayer that God will hear from a wicked man is a prayer of repentance. Otherwise we can read in numerous other places that God is sickened and wants nothing to do with his praying. Later in Proverbs we learn that, "He who turnes away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." ( Proverbs 28:9) A wicked man would frequent a prayer meeting as often as an at-large criminal would frequent a police station. But when the wicked do pray, God will not hear. We read another terrifying passage in Proverbs chapter 1 about the prayer of the wicked. "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. "They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof." Proverbs 1:24-30 This passage warns those who think they can mock God and live with no fear of Him. It warns them that when calamity comes, they cannot turn to God only for deliverance from it. This is how the wicked pray - they turn to God when disaster comes, but then mock Him when everything is well. We read that God Himself will mock them in that day. He does not do so because He is vindictive. He does this because He knows that such praying rises from a heart that is wicked still. Therefore he will not hear. He is far from such praying. He even considers it an abomination to Him. Fortunately, this proverb does not end with the statement about the wicked. God reminds us that He does hear the prayer of the righteous. There is a twofold way we should understand this. First, we need to see it positionally. The "righteous" is not righteous because of his deeds. We read in multiple places throughout Scripture that the righteous man shall live by faith. He is made righteous by faith in God's provision for sin. He is granted righteousness as a gift of God's grace. He cannot make himself righteous because he is steeped in sin. All he is fit for is punishment and wrath. God, though, has come to the rescue with blood of a spotless lamb that speaks on his behalf. This lamb was a physical one in the Old Testament, but that was just a shadow of the glory of God's grace to come. God sent THE Lamb when Jesus Christ came to earth and gave His life on the cross for our sins. That was sufficient payment for us - and God offers with it the very righteousness of Christ as a gift of His glorious grace. That is why He hears the prayer of this man (or any man for that matter). He stands in a divinely-provided righteousness that speaks effectively for him. Thus God hears! The second way this passage should be understood is by a practical understanding. God hears the prayer of the saved man who practially embraces the righteous ways of God. We cannot, even as Christians, ignore obedience to God and expect God to hear our prayers. We read in the Word that if we regard sin in our hearts, we know that God does not hear us. Some complain of much prayer that seems to be ignored by God. But prayer that is ignored is prayer to One that we've offended by our choice of sin rather than righteousness. It is only when we take refuge in 1 John 1:9 - confessing our sins - that we can once again be heard. Our Father is a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God. But we must understand that He is God, not a shabby version of Santa Claus. There are principles involved in how God hears and answers prayer. They are not complicated principles - but they are principles that are strictly adhered to as we approach Him. The key to answered prayer is walking and asking according to His will. If we allow sin to enter either our walk or our requests, we will find that our praying is ineffective. Embrace righteousness - both positionally and practially and you will find prayer a delight. You will also find a God who is eager to hear - eager to work - and eager to answer.
For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, That they may be ready on your lips. Proverbs 22:18How can wisdom help ensure that you have a pleasant life? That is what we have presented for us today as we continue to look at God's call to Wisdom. We are offered a promise by God here - that if we keep the words of wisdom within us - it will be pleasant for us. The word pleasant is the Hebrew word "naem" which means to be sweet, beautiful, comfortable, delightful, and enjoyable. So wisdom kept within us - wisdom that we gain by listening to wise men and women - wisdom that we let knock about in our heads as we think on what it is saying to us - and the understanding that comes through it - will make our lives pleasant. This is not promising us that we will never have any problems - but it is saying that wisdom will make even problems and difficulties more pleasant because we will know God's direction and leadership in the midst of them. Note here that this is true if we "keep them within" us. This is saying that just a casual aquaintence with wisdom is not enough. We have taken the time to either memorize or extensively meditate on these godly principles. In fact we have thought about them enough that they are "ready on our lips." There is enough confidence in what we've learned that we are ready to speak of them - and that they have become principles "rooted" deep within us. This passage reminds us of God's promise to Joshua that says, "This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night - so that you may be careful to do all that is in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." ( Joshua 1:8, NASB) There is a blessing that will come to us - that will make our lives very pleasant if we will take to ourselves the Word of the Lord - keep it in our hearts and minds - and begin to do all that we do based on the wisdom that God grants us from His Word.
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge; Proverbs 22:17 All throughout the book of Proverbs we have little sections devoted to calling people to wisdsom. Here is another one. From this verse all the way through verse 21 we are called to give ourselves to the "words of the wise" as we walk through life. The call here is to hear what the wise are saying. Something that we should realize is that as we walk through life God is going to bless us with those who are wise. Unfortunately the cutlure of the west has turned from learning from the elderly - and thus has cut off from ourselves a wealth of wisdom and understanding in the process. There is much to learn from someone who has walked through life many years. If nothing else -we can learn from the fact that they've faced things we have not - and that they are failed at things and learned form their mistakes. The call is to incline our ear and hear these words. This is in some ways a call to humility. We have to submit ourselves to their words if we are going to learn anything. If we think that we are the fountanhead of wisdom itself - we will be too arrogant and too apt to "lean on our own understanding" to listen to what someone else has to say. There is much to simply learning to shut one's own mouth and hear what others have to say. That is why God admonishes us through the book of James to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. The wise old saying goes that God gave us two ears but only one mouth. By this He is saying that we need to listen twice as much as talk. That one thought alone, if adhered to, would grant us a great deal of wisdom. The thing though that the wise old sage offers to the youth is that not only should he listen, but he shoud also apply himself to understanding what he has heard. This is where a great deal of wisdom is gleaned. We not only listen, but then later we take the time to mull over what has been said with a view to truly understanding it and applying it to the various situations that we face in life. It is not enough just to listen - we must apply what we've heard as well. This application process happens as we also truly seek to grasp the very root truth of what we've heard. This means going to the level of the worldview that wisdom teaches us. That worldview is one of knowing and valuing to the utmost what God has to say to us. Wisdom is best defined as seeing things like God sees them. This means that we take what we've learned from God not just as information, but as a framework to understanding everything in the world around us. This is the way to wisdom - to see and to grasp things from God's perspective - and then to live as He would direct us.
"I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!" Proverbs 5:13
There are consequences for sexual sin in the lives of those who commit it. These two verses in Proverbs chapter 5 relate to us what some of these consequences are for the immoral person. What is fascinating is that these two things are not exactly on the what's what list for sexual immorality - and yet they are both problems that will come for those who practice this kind of lifestyle and choice in life.
It would be wise for us to briefly remember the context of these verses. These are in the context of a father warning a son not to consort with prostitutes and with women who commit adultery. The warnings are dire but are in no way hyperbole. The things being said to this young man are true warnings and they contain true consequences for his actions. This is why the one who commits adultery later laments that he did not listen to the voice of his teachers - nor pay attention of incline his ear to hear how they were seeking to instruct him.
There is very real ruin and disgrace that attends adultery. Anyone who has watched a marriage and a family disintegrate under the weight of it knows this to be true. Yet, even with all the examples that we have before us of these things, men and women still enter into relationships and commit adultery. The siren call of pleasure drowns out the voice of teachers and instructors who have warned them of the rocky shores upon which they will wreck their lives and the lives of their families. The only cry they will lift is unfortunately the one that comes from the battered survivors who cry in pain in the midst of their wreckage.
That is what we have here before us - the cry of the destroyed. I did not listen to my teachers! I did not incline my ear to my instructors! I am ruined due to my sin and my indiscretions! The cries come from the rocks and from the ruins of lives that have ventured too far into those dangerous waters. They have ignored the warning of the lighthouse of Scripture that tells them what will happen. Rebellious and unteachable - their lesson will only be learned the hard way. They will add their names to the long list of cautionary characters who faced ruin in opposing and thinking they can get past the Scriptures and God's warnings. All this can seem like too much - but tomorrow we will see a ray of hope in what is said in verse 14. So if you are on the verge of despair - there is hope - there is mercy - and there is grace!
He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him. Proverbs 18:13 When I read this proverb, I immediately was reminded of a problem that I have when it comes to listening skills. There are times in a conversation with others that I don't listen as closely as I should. What I do is begin to frame in my mind what I am going to say next - before the other person has finished what they are saying. Another problem I have is that at times I won't wait for someone to finish what they are saying - because I have convinced myself that I know what they are going to say or finish saying. Thus I interrupt and rudely start with what I want to say. Whether this is a common malady among people is not for me to say. What I can say though is that my lack of listening skills has hurt me from time to time exactly like this proverb says. I have either been seen as a fool for speaking before I heard the other person - or - I've made had to be ashamed later of something that I've said when listening more intently would have delivered me from the embarassment of that situaiton. Why would we speak before we hear? Well, since this is one of my own sins, I feel that I am somewhat an authority on the "whys" of it. I speak before I listen because I am filled with pride. I think what I have to say has to be far more important than what the other person is saying at the time. I consider myself smarter and better informed - or I'm just rude and do not value what someone else has to say. The one thing I am sure of is that whatever my reasons, they do not hold water - and certainly do not survive the Philippians 2 test (consider others better than yourself). Lack of character on my part is the overwhelming answer here. I remember one incident that woke me up to my lack of listening skills. It was a time when I was witnessing to students at the University of Memphis. One student invited us into his room to talk. As we shared I was amazed at his ability to concentrate on whatever was being said at the time. At first I equated this to the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing him to Christ. But after three visits I was seeing the same thing again and again. Finally, I couldn't resist asking him why he seemed so interested in what we were saying when we came to visit. His answer blew me away. He said that over the past couple of years he had consciously worked on listening intently to whatever conversation he was a part of so that he could better know what to say - and when to keep his mouth shut. What astounded me about this interview was that he was not a believer - yet his character far better reflected love than mind did when it came to listening to others. Those visits did far more to change me than I think they changed him. I was confronted with my horrible lack of listening skills and how they had brought both shame and foolishness to me. I remember making a commitment to develop the kind of skills this young man had. But what motivated me most was remembering the way that talking to him made me feel. His concentration on what I had to say made me feel important - and yes - loved. It was and is a reminder to me to this very day that listening well to someone is vitally important. It can mean the difference between them feeling loved - or - feeling like they are talking to someone rude and foolish. As someone who longs to be wise, it is my hope to give an answer ONLY after I've heard - not just with my ears, but with understanding and love.
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them. Proverbs 20:12 This last day we will spend on this verse has to do not just with the physical creation of our ears and eyes, but rather with some philosophic and religious implications of this fact. What should we learn from the fact that God has made our ears and eyes? Psalm 94:9 will help us here with these things. Psalm 94 is written to help us see that God is Who He is - GOD! Psalm 94 is a psalm about God's judgment that is coming upon a disobedient people. It is about people who ignore God's warnings about pride and rebellion. As these people do their wicked acts, they do so with the attitude that "The Lord coes not see, nor does the God of Jacob pay heed." Their attitude is that God doesn't have the ability to see their actions and their deeds. The answer that God gives them is given in verse 8-10 which read as follows, "Pay heed, you senseless among the people; And when will you understand, stupid ones? He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see? He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke, Even He who teaches man knowledge?" God's philosophical question to these people is this. The God Who made us in His image - and who made us with ears that hear and eyes that see - do you not think that He can hear and see? To think that this is not the case is really stupid and senseless. God hears and sees. But what is terrifying is to grasp that as an infinite being God's hearing and sight are not limited to time and space like our own. He hears and sees ALL THINGS! There is nothing that is beyond His perview - and as such - all will give an account to Him. Verse 10 tells us that the God who chastens nations - will he not also chasten the individual? This says something to us that we absolutely need to hear. God is God - He made the hearing ear and the seeing eye. Since we are made in His image - that means that He too can both hear and see. That is why a simple assertion in Proverbs chapter 20 should make us step back and consider such a thing. It should also help us to embrace wisdom. Wisdom is living in such a way that we realize that we are walking in God's sight - walking before Him. What He says we should heed - what He commands we should do - and what we think we can hide - we should wake up and know that even our most hidden actions, thoughts, and words are as clear as day in His sight. Knowing this helps a wise man to live "pleasing" in His sight. Rejecting it is the ultimate insult to God. We equate to Him and blindness and deafness that dishonors Him greatly. But the fact is that men and women who do not acknowledge His omniscience are the ones blind and deaf.
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them. Proverbs 20:12 Yesterday we looked for a few moments at the seeing eye. We learned how the eye points us to God - a God who created us by His infinite wisdom and understanding. Today, we want to take a look at the human ear - and see how God again reveals His power, glory, and amazing work through it. It is my belief that these two organs alone should bring evolutionists to their knees in wonder and awe at what God made. But since this issue is not about proof, but about an unwillingness to acknowledge, thank, and submit to God, I do not think that the world of evolutionists will be abandoning their incredible faith in their pseudo-science to turn to God any time soon. One of the first things we should know about our ears is that they do far more than just hear things. They are our source of equilibrium - and what allows us to walk upright. Without our ears we would greatly lack balance and would not be able to stand or sit without losing our balance and falling to the ground. What is truly amazing about our ears is that they consist of three different parts - each with their own function in hearing and equilibrium. These parts of the ear first focus sound into a canal which operates by the way the air is bounced around by sound waves. Once inside the ear though, these air and sound waves hit our tympanic membrane - which most of you know as the ear drum. This is where the sound waves are turned from an air phenomena to a water-based impulse. Once the sound waves hit this drum - the waves produced by it work through three of the smallest bones and muscles in the entire human body. These three bones take these waves and interpret them, amplify them, and at times decrease them to where they can be passed on to a liquid medium where the sound will continue to be processed. This liquid medium is then moved through a circular canal filled with what looks like little tiny hairs. These hairs take the disturbance of the water in the middle ear and translate it into the various aspects of sound. Pitch, loudness, quality are all detected as the waves move through the watery canal - and even things like distance and direction are detected as well. These little hairs take these waves and code them into electrical impulses that are then sent along the auditory nerve into the brain. The reason we have two ears is that this allows us to hear in stereo - which in turn helps us deal with direction and distance of sounds that come to us. As all this is coded specially so that the brain can then interpret all these codes and allow us to know what is being heard. What is truly astounding is how sensitive our ears are to sound. Our ears can hear a mosquito buzzing - which I realize to many of us is not that much of a blessing. But when you understand that a mosquito buzzes at a level of one quadrahonth of a watt - it is amazing that we can detect that sound at all. One quadrahonth of a watt is 1/100 quadrillionth of the amount of power it takes to light up a reading lamp - yet with only that much power behind it, we can still hear this sound. The ability of our ears to detect different pitches is also astounding. The piano has over 100 keys on it, each representing a particular pitch, but the human ear has the ability in between each of these pitches to have multiple other pitches it can receive. The sensitivity of the human ear to do this is amazing to a degree almost beyond comprehension. The human ear takes energy in the form of sound waves and then translates it into mechanical energy as the sound waves are collected by the outer ear, moved into the ear cavity, and then strike the tympanic membrane. They are now no longer sound wave energy, but mechanical energy. As this mechanical energy moves through those tiny bones and muscles, it is translated into hydraulic energy in the liquid within the middle ear. This hydraulic energy is then moved through the circular cave of the ear where the little hairs are located. At this point the hydraulic energy of sound is translated by these little hairs into electrical energy over 30,000 neurons which make up the auditory nerve. Coded into electrical energy - they now move over the cable system of the auditory nerve which then carries these codes into the brain where they are decoded and we experience sound. To think this all happened by chance is the height of both arrogance and foolishness. Engineers who have looked at this incredibly complex system marvel at its precision and astounding abilities. What is even more incredible is that we havn't even touched upon the wax system within the ear which deals with impurities - or the way that equilibrium is maintained through the water helping us balance and walk upright - or any of the chemical reactions that have to take place in order for us to translate things in from the hydraulic to the electrical phase of hearing. These would honestly blow our minds if we tried to take the time necessary to understand them. What is truly astounding is that some refuse to see a designer in all this - only random, accidental happenstance. Once again the human ear blows our minds - and shows us the creativity of God as well as His ability to design systems which baffle engineers today. What we should come away with here is the realization that indeed God did create the seeing eye and the hearing ear. For those of us who are wise enough to see and hear such things from God - there is an aspect of worship that should come from such knowledge.
Hear, my son, and accept my sayings And the years of your life will be many. Proverbs 4:10The way that we listen and hear things is so important when it comes to spiritual matters. If we are wise, we will learn how to listen well so that what God says to us will be taken in and seized the moment we hear it. That kind of listening will allow us to not just hear - but also hearken to what is spoken to us. Obedience to a command or a call begins with how we hear it and how we grasp what is being said. Without that skill - communication is a roll of the dice at best. The father begins by calling his son to hear what he says. The word used to say "hear" is a famous one. It is the word "shema" and it is famous because the Jews call their most famous biblical reference "the shema." "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9The call to "hear" that is spoken to the son is used to indicate to him that something very important is about to be said. So what the father is about to say here in this passage is vital for him to grasp for his good. When we hear what someone says to us - the amount of importance we assign to their words will in great part determine what we do with them. Some times it will determine whether we hear them beyond the moment in which they speak to us. When this carries over to our relationship with God we see how important this is to our spiritual growth and maturity. When God speaks through His Word - are we listening? Jesus began His most important statements with the phrase, "truly, truly I say to you." Since most Hebrew Rabi's punctuated their important statements with just one truly, Jesus drew their attention very quickly with this manner of speaking. But we need to pay attention to everything our Lord speaks - so the necessity of listening well is even more important for us. The second thing the father is seeking to teach his son is to lock on to what is said and not let it go. He tells his son to accept his sayings. The idea here is to take hold of something and grab it tightly. There are times, I am embarassed to say, that my wife will ask me what she just said to me. She does this when I am being rude and allowing something to distract me from the importance of interacting with her. There are times when I can repeat what she has said word for word, but that is not why she asked me her question. Her statement was rhetorical - because she knew that I was listening without truly hearing. I might be able to repeat words - but I did not get her heart or her spirit. That is what the father is trying to teach his son. Don't just listen without hearing. Listen to where you truly get the words - and the spirit in which they were spoken. When you do this you will truly "get it." The father promises that when we do this we will experience a life of many years. This is not must promising a long life, but life itself - for a long time. We will have far more that a quantity of life - we will enjoy a wonderful quality of it as well. Learning to listen well - hearing far more than just words - will bless you in a multitude of areas. It will bless your relationships, most importantly those with your Lord and your wife. It will bless how you relate to your children, your boss, your friends, and even your acquaintences. It will bless your work life - because you will hear what to do and grasp it so that you won't make careless mistakes. It will also bless you when you begin ministering to others. Your ability to truly hear what someone is saying will put you miles ahead of those who simply try to minister - without really knowing where ministry is needed. Oh, to listen this way! It will prove a blessing that you cannot fully measure in life. But it is something that every father - especially our Father in heaven - desires for his son to learn. It will prove to be a monumental blessing to him.
Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12 This is a simple admonition here in Proverbs - and yet if we will look at it carefully, it will yield to us some very helpful information. The first thing we see is that we are to apply our heart to discipline. The word "apply" here means, "to bring to" - thus what God is saying to us is that we need to bring our hearts to something. Here we read that what we bring our hearts to is discipline. The word discipline is "musar" which means to instruct with discipline. It refers most often to the discipline given by a father - both by word and by the rod. It is very easy when discipline is applied to us for us to not allow it to reach the heart. We may hear the words - and receive the correction - but we do not bring our hearts to it. True correction and discipline is for the heart - not the bottom. It might be applied to the rear end with the rod - but the aim in these things needs to be directly to the heart. Those who protest the use of the rod see the issue being striking a child - and they see it as evil in all circumstances. But the godly parent is not aiming for the rear end alone. They want to instruct with their discipline. They want their words and their use of the rod to affect the heart of the child. If you have their heart - in the end you will truly change their behavior. What Solomon is saying though, is for the one receiving the discipline. Apply your heart to what God is trying to teach you. If you are like me - there are times when you bristle at discipline. It is not pleasant to have God apply the rod to us. It is not a delightful thing for us to be corrected and rebuked. But when God grants us discipline it is only for our best interests. We can be absolutely assured of this. Therefore we need to train ourselves to receive it joyfully - gratefully - and educationally. If we do, maybe we won't need a second dose of discipline to complete the job for us. The second admonition here is that we also apply our ears to words of knowledge. Knowledge here refers to more than just head-learning. Solomon is telling us about a knowing of God and His ways. He refers to a working knowledge - a practical knowledge - intimate knowledge - knowledge that truly changes the way we act. The verb "apply" is assumed here - thus we are told to bring our ears to this knowledge that God is seeking to give us. It is more than just hearing it - it is concentrated listening. It is listening to learn and to apply it to one's life. This is key to us becoming wise. If we will truly bring our hearts and ears to what God is seeking to communicate to us, we will be blessed greatly. God longs for us to be wise and to know and follow Him with all our hearts. These two practices - bringing our hearts to times of discipline - and bringing our ears to hear obediently what God says to us - will assure that we grow and personally experience all the godliness that God desires to give us when He works and speaks in our lives.
|
RSS Feed