He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
Proverbs 16:20

Ever have problems paying attention to something? This is a common problem with just about everyone I've ever known. Many of us are avid day-dreamers who take excursions all over the world - or at least all over the recesses of our minds - every day. The problem is when distracted thinking affects how we approach and deal with God's Word and what the Lord is trying to say to us in our daily quiet time.

Today's proverb has excellent advice for those who want to be wise. Pay attention to what God is saying to you in His Word! That is the advice. Simple isn't it. Yet anyone who has ever had a quiet time go awry knows that simple in stating and complicated in obeying is the problem here. I've had quiet times where I spent the majority of my time turning down dog-eared pages in my Bible. I've had other ones where I will finish reading a chapter and wonder what is the world I just read. At other times I've been reading a chapter and been horribly distracted with thoughts poking themselves into my mind between every verse. All this can be downright frustrating at times!

Giving attention to God's word means that we do more than just read over it. The word for attention means to consider something. To place our entire attention toward it also is part of what this word means. Distractions are normal, but when they come we need to stop reading and deal with them. Otherwise we will be in danger of just reading over words - without truly paying attention to them.

Giving attention to the Word also means taking a little time to consider, meditate, and learn from it. I've been guilty in the past of just wanting to read a lot of the Bible - and not think on what I am reading. This particular blog was a way of battling that problem. Writing these posts have made me slow down and truly consider what a verse means. Consider keeping a quiet time journal where you can focus on one verse, or a few of them. That will help you pay attention to what God is saying to you.

The blessing that comes from this is that you will find good. The good that you will find is varied. Some days you will find a promise in God's Word that you can claim. Other days you will find instruction or teaching about some aspect of God or His will. On others you will experience rebuke or correction that will lead you away from a sin and back into sweet fellowship with the Lord. Still others will yield a fresh glimpse of God's glory and character that will blow you away or thrill your heart. There is so much good that comes from approaching the Word as more than just something to check off on your day. You need to approach it as you would approach Him - because that is exactly what you are doing!

There is another blessing that comes from doing this as well - and it is explained for us at the close of this proverb. You will be blessed because as you understand God's will and ways and person better - you will be able to trust in Him! When He gives a command you can trust Him to provide the power to keep it. When He offers rebuke or conviction you can trust Him to grant repentance and to lead you into freedom from the sinful action. When He offers hope or encouragement you can trust Him to bring you through the situation which has caused hurt or pain. There are so many ways that God can make you truly blessed as you have a fresh opportunity to trust Him and rely upon what He has said in His Word. May you be blessed indeed as you continue having daiily times alone with Him - as He speaks to you - as you pay attention - and as you are wonderfully blessed as He encourages you onward into every new day of trusting Him and seeing Him work out His will in your life!

“Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts.”   Proverbs 8:34

Wisdom had regaled us with tales of creation and what it was like to watch and be a participant in the very creation of all that God has made.  We have seen from Wisdom's statements and from an examination of the world around us, that we can trust Wisdom and what God says to us through His Word.  Now we hear Wisdom calling us to be a listener - to be one who watches and waits for what God has to say to us.  Just as God has been true about His creation of this world - so He is now calling us to listen to what He has to say to us about life itself - and how to live it.

Blessed is the man who listens to me.  This is God's promise of happiness for those who listen - who heed what He has do say.  The word for blessed means one who is happy.  The happiness experienced is not a transitory happiness based on getting our own way and living for what we want to live for day to day.  It is a happiness at a much deeper level - more than happiness.  This is about a deep-seated joy that comes from knowing and walking with God.  It comes from knowing Him - and knowing His blessing in our lives.  But this blessing is conditional - it is for those who listen to Him.  We need to open our ears and more than that, our hearts, to what God desires for us.  There needs to be more than basic hearing.  Let me explain with a less than gracious example from my own experience.

I am a guy - which usually means there are times I have "listening" issues.  My wife is very gracious in spite of my listening disorder.  There are times when she is talking to me (come to think of it - I also have four daughters who struggle with this "lack" of mine as well) that she will pause and ask me if I am listening to her.  My response is to repeat the last sentence she has just said.  This is not amusing to her at all.  She did not ask if I heard words that she was saying to me - she wanted to know if I actually listened to her.  This, my dear fellow males, means was I listening for the purpose of furthering our relationship.  Was I listening so as to hear more than just words - was I hearing her heart.  If I had honestly answered that question I would have had to say no.  I was not listening - I heard some stuff - but I was not really hearing with understanding.  I was not hearing to have a relationship.  To put it in a way that maybe we can understand - I was not truly "getting her."  That would have required listening.  It would have required zeroing in on what she was saying with an intent to know what she said, why she said it, and respond in an intelligent and caring way that expressed that I loved her . . . more than the football game that I was currently watching.  (Wow - that was far more cathartic than I thought.)

God wants us to LISTEN to Him.  He wants us to do two things each day.  First He wants us to be "watching at His gates."  The "gate" was the place where important decisions were made.  This was serious stuff - because it was at the gate that the wisest and most influential men gathered.  God wants us to listen and watch for the really important stuff in life.  We need to watch for Him - because He will give us guidance on the major decisions and major life choices that we face each day.  But he also calls for us to be "waiting at His doorposts."  What a wonderful picture that this is.  The doorposts referred to the opening of the house.  This speaks of two things.  First it speaks of intimacy - of a relationship where we can talk about everything in life.  God tells fathers to talk to their children in this way.  He wants us to speak to our kids when we get up and go to sleep each day.  He wants us to talk to them about Him when we go out and come in.  He also wants us to write on our very doorposts the Word of God - so that is what we see when we go out and come in.  This is every day life - and the wonderful blessing of having a friend with whom we can talk when we are going through our day. 

The second thing this points to is redemption.  We wait for God at the doorposts of our house.  This was the place where every year the Jewish family would put blood for the Passover.  This blood was left on the doorposts overnight.  Over time the obedient Jewish family would wind up with permanent blood stains on their door frame.  But oh what a wonderful picture this is of how we wait for God.  Wisdom reminds us that we are God's people.  We are bought with a price - and we are redeemed.  When we wait for Him here - we experience intimacy - but we also are reminded that we are intimate because we are redeemed.

Wisdom calls us to walk with and know God.  This is done in every area of our lives.  It is in the big stuff - and in the little stuff.  It is in the huge decisions that will direct our lives - but it is also in the little decisions that set the daily course of where we will walk today.  The thing wisdom asks of us is that we listen.  That does not mean being able to quote Bible verses by rote - but not really know what they mean.  Listening means coming before God and hearing Him with a bent to know His heart.  When we do that - we will see that this is the true way to a deep abiding happiness that will last throughout a lifetime.

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.  Proverbs 8:22

We are about to enter one of the coolest passages of Scripture in all the Bible.  For the next 10 verses we will be allowed to have an interview of sorts with wisdom.  Several times we have seen wisdom personified so that we might learn more about wisdom.  This time we are allowed into the very intimate counsel of God - before and during creation itself.

Wisdom first tells us, "Jehovah possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old."  So the first thing we learn is that wisdom is a possession of God.  He did not have to learn it or be taught wisdom by someone greater because there is no one greater.  He is absolute and the ultimate over everything and everyone.  The word "possessed" is the Hebrew word "qanah" which in this context means to create or to bring forth.  Thus we see that before creation ever was - God created wisdom. 

This brings me to an interesting thought.  I hope you will tolerate me getting a little weird here, and yet I think this exercise may benefit all of us.  God doesn't have wisdom - He IS wisdom.  There was no need for a knowledge of wisdom up until God created the world, because all there was before this was the eternal fellowship of the Godhead.  Being eternal and infinite - they knew all and had known it for all time.  To try to express it to anyone would be foolish for they all knew from all time all there was to know and all that will ever be known.  But God was about to create the world - and was going to reveal Himself through and to His creation. 

We read the following in Psalm 19:1-4, "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.  Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.  Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world."  Since the heavens and the world was the creation of God - since the moment of their origin at His Word they have been telling of God's glory.  Morning, noon, and night they do not cease to shout out His praises.  Each new day the speak of God - they pour forth speech - and reveal knowledge of God.  Yet prior to this - there was no need for these things - for the perfect eternal fellowship of the Godhead knew them perfectly. 

With the creation of the earth, God was about to begin revealing Himself first through His creation - and then, with the creation of man - to His creation.  This required a way to know God - a knowledge about God that was not inherent within His infinite knowing of Himself.  Therefore God created wisdom.  Wisdom is seeing God and knowing Him.  Wisdom is learning to see all of life as God sees it.  Wisdom comes from God - and if grasped correctly - leads us back to Him.  So, before God ever revealed Himself through and to His creation - He first had to create or bring forth a way of comprehending Himself to what He was about to create.  I know that this is a little wild to consider - but I believe in the end, it only causes us to think higher thoughts of God Himself - and to worship Him for Who He is. 

Over the next several days we will take a look at the creation of wisdom - and how wisdom was with God as the earth was created.  During our look at these 10 verses in Proverbs we will also have cause to consider how the creation itself is actually infused with the wisdom of God as well.  Join us . . . it should be quite a journey!

The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in ranks; Proverbs 30:27

Locusts are interesting insects.  They do not have a leader - and yet as they come up over the earth and destroy everything in their path, they march in ranks - each staying to a path that seems as if determined from a central planner.  Because of this aspect of cooperation with one another, they can cause untold destruction to crops and trees.  We do not have the kind of locust infestations that the Middle East does so in some ways we cannot imagine the destruction these cooperating, yet unled insects can cause.

What is the lesson for us in their "exceedingly wise" behavior?  It is the lesson of cooperation with one another.  There is so much that we can accomplish if we simply take the attitude of fulfilling our role and cooperating with others around us.  Some of the greatest problems we face is when there are too many chiefs and not enough indians.  That is a southernism for having too many who want to lead - and hardly anyone who wants to follow or cooperate.  I've watched churches and other organizations implode because of this kind of "everyone wants to be king" attitude.  We should learn from the locust and his great wisdom and know that by simply having a cooperative attitude and heart we will get so much more done and will accomplish great things. 

There is one other thing that the locust can teach us.  He does what he does because he is ultimately responding to his Creator and the instincts that God has given him.  Much can be accomplished in our lives by following that example.  Once we learn what the Word of God tells us we should be doing - we should go about doing it.  The unseen Holy Spirit will empower us to accomplish that task - as He will anyone else in the body of Christ.  Would it not be a glorious thing to see God's people cooperating as they share the gospel, disciple new converts, and encourage them to do the same as they live their lives.  What a mighty army the church would be if they would only cooperate under the unseen hand of God and His Word working in their hearts.  Whereas the locust our teacher uses such instincts for destruction, the body of Christ could use this lesson for the advancement of God's kingdom all over the world.

The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 18:15

The search for knowledge is an interesting thing to look at in the Scriptures - as well as in the world.  The world wants knowledge - but it is a different kind of knowledge from a different source.  The knowledge that he world desires is what is called worldly knowledge.  It is a knowledge that ignores God's Word - and is in opposition to it.  It is knowledge that denies God's existance as creator - denies the moral realities of the world - and encourages man to continue to live independently from God.

The knowledge that is encouraged here in Proverbs is that which is gained by not only knowing God and His Word, but also being able to take what you know and use it to guide you in making decisions and in pleasing God in every situation that you face in life.  We see here that the mind of the prudent acquires knowledge.  Mind here refers to our thinking and reasoning - but it affects the heart and the core values that guide our decision making.  The wise man mentioned here is the one whose mind and heart is prudent.  What is meant by this is that he is constantly seeking the ability to look at two things and see the difference between them.  He is a discerning man who does not take everything at face value.  He looks into things so that he may acquire knowledge before he makes decisions - or even decides how to view something in life.  If there is any way that this man can get knowledge in this way - he is trying to acquire it.  This word, acquire speaks of purchasing something in order to possess it.  This man wants knowledge - and he will pay whatever cost there is to get it.  When you read ths do not think of money - but think of time, study, and diligence in seeking and knowing the Word of God.  It is often costly in time and effort to get the kind of knowledge that yields discernment as well.  You just cannot open and book and get it.  It comes by knowing the Word in a way that helps us to see things as God sees them. 

The wise man also tunes his ears to seek knowledge.  Note here that we move from our minds to our ears.  What is different about this word is that it is saying something far more than just listening with our physical hearing.  The New Testament often uses the phrase, "hear what the Spirit is saying."  That means being able to hear with far more than just our physical ears.  It speaks of the ability to hear God.  The word seek emphasizes it even more.  This is the Hebrew Word that speaks of seeking God's presence.  Daniel 9:3 speaks of this kind of seeking when we read of Daniel doing the following.  "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes."  When we "seek" for knowledge we are giving our attention to it.  We are praying and crying out to God to give us His knowledge and His heart for things.  At times this involves even fasting and special concern for gaining the knowledge that God has for us. 

Knowledge is important for the man wanting to be wise.  It will involve reading and study like all other forms of knowledge, but it will require more.  It will require that we have a heart for God - and desire a spiritual knowledge that God gives us from His Word.  But the reward for such a search is that we wil be able to walk through life being able to discern what to do and how to do it in a number of situations.  We will have a discernment that will allow us to see beyond surface issues and get to the very heart of a decision or a response to others.  the place you se this the best is in the life of Jesus.  His knowledge of the Word and of His Father's heart gave Him the ability to cut through any kind of lie or misinformation.  He truly could answer not just the question of a man - but the heart and motive behind it.  That is the wonderful discernment that comes with the knowledge God gives us as we seek it and Him diligently.

"But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil." Proverbs 1:33

Although the past eleven verses have been ones that have had a message of warning and correction, the last verse in this admonition gives us an encouraging lift.  That is the blessing of listening to God's warnings.  They may be tough, but in the end He also offers us a positive look at what it means if we live a life that obeys and honors Him.  That is what we will examine today as we look at the last verse of Proverbs chapter one.

We immediately see the transition that is made here.  But . . . is such a wonderful word when seen in transitions where God has been trying to make a point.  Foolishness has been shown for how unwise and destructive that it truly is throughout these verses.  But now God is going to turn things around with one verse.  There is proise of punishment and consequence for those who reject God's wisdom and Word - but for those who will listen - there is blessing.

The word used here to call us to listen is a wonderful word.  It is the Hebrew word "shama" and it means not just to listen with ones ears - it means to have what we listen to affect us so that we obey and regard what it is that God has said to us.  Two famous biblical passages use this word.  The first is in Deuteronomy 6:4 where God introduces the Shema.  "Hear O, Israel!  The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!"  After this God calls Israel to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.  This passage became so famous among Israel that the word listen was codified - and the basic confession of Israel was named, the Shema.  It is a reminder for all time for her people to place love for God above all other things in life!  The second place where this word is used in a famous way is in Isaiah 1:2, "Listen O heaven, and hear O earth; for the LORD speaks, Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me."  This is a passage where Isreal has rejected God - and God calls all of creation to listen to the warning that is offered - a warning that calls men to never abandon and turn away from the Lord.  In both of these passages "shema" is used to call us not just to listen to anything - but to listen to something and Someone of absolute importance.

We are called to listen to God - and here, of course, we are called to listen to His wisdom.  The ones who listen in this way are ones who will "live securely."  This phrase meant that a person could live with a calm assurance that God would protect and keep them.  Wisdom has a way of setting our hearts at ease, knowing that God's wisdom will always yield what is best for us.  The promise is also given that we will be "at ease from the dread of evil."  This ease again describes for us a state of security, peace, and rest.  It speaks oddly enough for this state to overcome someone even at the moment of death.  It is a peace that cannot be disturbed because it is given by God Himself. 

The Lord gives warnings - and they can involve somewhat extensive cautions against wisdom and against walking in rebellion to His Word and ways.  But know that such warnings are given to us because of God's great love and mercy toward us.  Yet in the midst of such warnings - and in the midst of what some might call, "negative messages" we can know that God's desire is for us to walk in His ways and thus to experience all His blessings.  To act like sin does not exist if we do not name it is the height of foolishness.  The wise man knows that such warnings are welcome to us for they remind us that we must cling to and love the LORD our God with all that we have and all that we are.  Such warnings are blessings in disguise for they keep us from walking in foolish and unprofitable ways.  Embrace the negative messages that warn of our propensity to walk in the flesh and in our own strength.  When we keep such wisdom close to our hearts, we will find that these messages are close friends with God's favor - and those are friends that are worth keeping indeed!

"Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; Proverbs 1:24

We are examining the first chapter of Proverbs and seeing why it is not always the best thing to only have positive messages in the church and in our Christian lives.  Here we see the reality that some do not receive what God is saying to them.  They refuse to turn to God as He issues a call to them through His Word and His wisdom.

Too many get bent out of shape when they hear that God has to call us for us to be saved.  They pretty much freak out when they are told that on their own they would never come to God because they are dead in their sins.  They do not realize that God in His mercy does call men to Himself.  But the truth is that even when God calls - men reject Him.  Even when He allows them to hear His counsel, His reproof, His encouragment to turn from their sin to follow Him - they reject it.  That is what is made clear here in this section of Scripture.  God tells us that he called - but the fool refuses that call.  The idea of refusal here involves a rejection not just of the message - but also of the Messenger. 

God is showing great mercy and grace to men in stretching out His hand to them.  Their sin should receive a stretched out hand - to discipline and bring them under God's judgment.  But that is not what the Lord is trying to do here.  He is wanting to instruct - to make His words known to those He calls (vs. 23).  As He stretches out His hand in mercy, what does He receive?  Nothing . . . no one pays any attention to what He is saying.  This coincides with the truth in the New Testsament that, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23).  It also is a testament to Romans 3:10-12 which says, ". . . as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one."  Men, by their very nature reject God.  Due to their deadness in sin, they will refuse Him and reject Him.  But there is an even more amazing truth that this.

It is an amazing thing to read here that men reject and refuse God.  It is astounding that they do not even pay attention to what He is saying.  But what is more amazing is that immediately after He is rejected God does not let judgment fall in that very moment.  But God is merciful in that He responds with further mercy.  But this passage is not a reminder of that mercy.  It is meant to be a stark reminder of how foolish it is to reject God when He does stretch out His hand and offer counsel, reproof, and instruction.

What should we learn from today's Proverb of the day?  We learn that to receive God's wisdom and offer of instruction is the greatest of mercies.  We learn that Jehovah God does this over and over again - offering mercy and grace that is rejected by sinful men.  But the real question for us today is what are WE going to do when we are aware that God is wanting to give us His Words - and correct us from a way that is not in accordance with His will?  Are we going to refuse and reject Him?  Are we going to see His outstretched arms - and not even pay attention? 

It might benefit us greatly to read a passage from Hebrews 2 that offers a warning to us - a warning that we should pay "much closer attention" to the times where God is speaking to us.  Hebrews 2:1-3 offers us this godly counsel on this matter, "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.  For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"  May we learn to listen with great passion and intensity when the Lord speaks to us - and may we not be guilty of neglecting so great a salvation when God offers not just His grace in Christ initially - but when He continues to save us from sin as He sanctifies us daily by His Word and His Spirit.

I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. Proverbs 8:17

One of the most disheartening things to me about the beliefs of the agnostic - is that although they believe there might be a God - they do not believe that He can be known.  The deist also has a sad belief that although there is a God who is great enough to make this world, all He did was wind it up.  They believe that He is letting it wind down - and principles for living in it can be known - but as for any kind of personal apsect to God, it does not exist.  How thankful I am that these misrepresentations of God are wholly inadequate in describing Him.  He has revealed Himself - can be known - and delights in those who diligently seek for Him.  For those who do - He has wonderful promises, not just of information, but a personal contact with Him - and emotional ties that He will initiate as well.

God is revealing Himself personified as Wisdom in this entire chapter.  After thrilling us with all the things that Wisdom is to us - God makes a wonderful promise.  He says that those who love Him - who love His wisdom - He Himself will love as well.  What a glorious promise is ours when we love the wisdom of God.  We will not only receive that very wisdom - information that will bless us infinitely - but we will receive the love of the One Who holds all that wisdom and makes it known to us.  This is no impersonal god whose goal is the communication of ideals and principles for living.  This is God, Who in giving us such things, delights that what He is giving us is Himself.  His glorious grace is that He gives us Himself.  This is so vital for us to grasp in our search for wisdom.  Wisdom is seeking not just information for wise choices - but seeking the One who not only gives the information, He gives Himself and all His power so that such principles can be lived out fully.  Our desire for wisdom will grant us those very principles - but they come with a Person - God Hismelf who will teach us and change us in the process.  Can there be anything more marvelous and wonderful!?

The second promise is those who diligently seek Wisdom will find Him.  Please do not think that a strange thing to say.  Wisdom is a person - the Lord Jesus Christ who is put within us by the power of the Holy Spirit.  If you think otherwise, you are not fully grasping the message of the gospel - and of the Scriptures.  We read in 1 Corinthians 1:30 that Christ Jesus became to us wisdom from God.  Earlier in verse 24 we read that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  That may blow some people's minds.  If we are pursuing wisdom - we are pursuing Christ in the end.  He is the ultimate wisdom that God had to share with us.  Jesus Christ is God incarnate - therefore His entire life was wisdom and understanding to us.  What we find in the book of Proverbs in principle and statement - we will find in Him lived out in every day experience. 

God has called us to a glorious pursuit.  That pursuit will always lead us to the person of Christ.  It will lead us to knowing and learning and loving Him.  The pursuit of wisdom in the end is not a pursuit of something - it is a pursuit of Somone - Jesus Christ.  The Love loves those who passionately enter into and continue in that pursuit.  What He promises is that when we run that race we can run knowing that His grace and mercy will enable us to win - and the prize that we will is a glorious and fulfilling relationship with His Son - and the life that comes from knowing and following Him.  Oh, precious one - make that pursuit the one goal of your life.  

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life. Proverbs 6:23

Today we are going to cover an amazing proverb that applies to every area and every aspect of life itself.  Here, like in the gospel, we are told of "the way of life."  Unlike in the gospel, this "way of life" is not one that can redeem us from sin - but it can be used by the Holy Spirit to make us a lifetime learner - a disciple who knows how God works through His Word and through the way that it is taught to us by the Spirit.  If there was ever a day to listen closely - today would be that day.

We are told of two things at the beginning of this proverb.  We are told of the commandent and the teaching.  These two things are compared to a lamp and to light.  First we have the commandment.  This is the same word that is used for God's 10 commandments.  It refers to God's Law - and I believe beyond the Old Testament it can be applied to the inspired Word of God anywhere in the Old or New Testaments.  We are told here that the commandment is a lamp.  A lamp is something that can emit light if used properly.  The lamp will always have the potential for light to come from it.  It is something that holds light - and if lit it will radiate light.  Interesting for us who understand the figures and types that are used for God's Holy Spirit, a lamp is filled with oil which is a type throughout the Old Testament for the Spirit and His work.  When that oil is lit - the lamp produces light.  In much the same way, the Word of God always has within it the teaching of the Holy Spirit - His leading and His instruction, warning, and rebuke.  When we come to God's Word, the lamp, we have the wonderful working of the Spirit of God as He illumines the Scriptures for us.  But before we think that simply reading or hearing the Word will always produce light, we need to remember that the commandment is a lamp.  It can produce light - but it can also remain unlit and just be a lamp.  There are those who misuse God's Word and no light comes forth.  The devil himself quoted the Scriptures to Jesus - to try and get Him to sin.  In that instance the lamp did not produce light - but it was abused to promote darkness.  There are also professors even at semniaries who do not believe the Bible is the Word of God.  The teaching they do promotes darkness.  This means that we cannot make a blanket statement that when the Bible is taught or read that it always results in light. 

The second statement made here is that the teaching is light.  First off we need to note here that we are not reading that the teaching is THE light. 
"THE" light is reserved for references to Jesus Christ Himself - God - and amazingly enough, us when we are manifesting God's character to others.  Here we read that the teaching is light.  The word for teaching here is the Hebrew word "torah."  Here torah means instruction or direction.  In the Old Testament the word mean instruction in a general manner from God Himself.  The idea here is that the command is the lamp - and when the Spirit or a Spirit-inspired teacher is instructing from it - the lamp becomes light - or begins to illumine with light.  This is so important for us to grasp because it is the very way that God will instruct and teach us.  We come to the Word, but we covet that when we do the Holy Spirit instructs us as we read and as we meditate upon what the Word says.  Do not misunderstand me to say that the Bible becomes the Word as it is taught.  That is false doctrine.  The Bible is always the inspired Wofrd of God that gives us the revelation of God.  It is just that we are blind to it without the instruction of the Holy Spirit who opens our hearts and spirits so that we can receive what God says.  That is why I think it is important to consciously ask the Spirit of God to teach us when we come to the Word of God. 

There is one other thing this passage teaches us about the functioning of the Word in our lives.  Today there are many who teach that the major reason for God's Word is that we can "confess who we are" in a positive way.  There is a potential problem with this doctrinal view.  We can get to the point where we only receive "positive" messages about ourselves from God's Word - and not conviction of sin.  When we read this passage though, it seems that we are learning something contrary to the positive confession doctrine. 

"And reproofs for discipline are the way of life."  When we read this we have to come to the conclusion that a large part of what the Word of God is going to do is reprove us.  It is probably at least one fourth of what it does because we read in 2 Timothy 3:16 that the Word of God is profitable for reproof.  Actually the 2 Timothy passage says not just reproof, but also correction as well.  The Word of God comes to us often to reprove and correct us.  One of God's complaints against the false prophets is that they would whitewash Israel's sin.  They would constantly talk about blessing without helping Israel and Judah to see that they had sinned against the Lord.  It does not matter how many "positive" confessions you make to yourself, God, and others - if you have unconfessed sin in your life - God will not bless you.  And since we are fallen creatures who live in a fallen world - we need for God to reveal to us that when we are acting "fallen!"  If you read Romans 7 - you do not come away with the thought that Paul just needed to be more positive.  He was wrestling with very real sin - and a very real fleshly, sinful nature that could not be defeated except through Jesus Christ.  That is why we need desperately to see that we need to be reproved and disciplined by God to become all that God desires for us to be in Christ.  Without that reproof and correction, we will not know from what we need to turn. 

The way of life is through being disciplined by God - and that involves the Lord reproving us for our sin.  When we come to His Word - His commandments - He is going to reveal to us how we have sinned against Him.  He does not do this because He hates us.  Contrary to that thought, He does it because He loves us!  He desires for us to share in His holiness (Hebrews 12) - and that means He wants us to share in His life. 

Wisdom is coming to God's Word in the right way each day.  It means that we approach the Lord each day being open to what He wants to teach us.  As we do this we also open ourselves to His Spirit to reveal to us that we may have sinned - or we may be lacking godly character - or a good attitude toward an authority.  There are any number of ways that God might speak to our hearts and help us to abandon sin - and embrace His holiness.  Regardless of what specifics are involved, God desires to bring blessing into our lives through this process.  Remember - the reproofs and discipline are the way of life!  He is bringing you life when He does these things.  Be wise therefore and receive what He is saying each day - whether it is encouragement, exhortation, teaching, or reproof.  They are all in his arsenal of blessing to conform you to the image of His Son and change you to be a better vessel for the blessing of not just yourself - but everyone around you.

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.