In my last post, I noted the dangers of hardening our hearts toward God and his wisdom. But in this chapter, it talks about what happens when we soften our hearts.
Solomon writes,
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:1-6)
What does it mean to soften your hearts to God and his Word?
It means to:
Accept what he says. To say “Yes, I agree that this is good and right.”
But more than that, it means to…
Store what he says in your heart.
Too often, we hear something, we agree with it, and then swiftly forget about it.
It’s not enough to hear and agree. We need to meditate on God’s Word and make it a part of our lives. We also need to…
Turn our ear to wisdom.
When God is speaking through his Word or through a pastor or even through a friend, we need to have a heart that’s open to it.
Too often, and I admit I do this too, we just say, “Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. But it doesn’t apply to me.”
But a softened heart lets wisdom in and lets wisdom transform it. How does wisdom transform a heart?
By a person applying themselves to understanding. By asking, “What does this mean for me? How does it apply to my life?”
We need to take the general wisdom of God, and apply it to our everyday lives. What’s more, we need to…
Call out for insight and cry out for understanding.
In other words, we should ask God to give us the insight and understanding to his words that we need.
When we don’t know how to apply his words to our lives, we shouldn’t just cast them aside, saying they’re irrelevant to our lives. We should ask him.
And when we do, Solomon says,
The LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (6)
More than that, when we commit ourselves to wisdom, and doing things his way, Solomon says we will find victory, and God will watch over us as we walk through this life.
His wisdom will protect us from falling in with wicked men (and women), and keep us away from the adulteress woman (and man).
In short, while the wicked will pass away because they rejected wisdom, we will find life.
How about you? Do you have a heart softened toward God and his wisdom? Are you seeking it actively? Are you applying it to your life?
Because when you do, that’s when you find a life worth living.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 