01/03/2018
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“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Proverbs 1:5
I’m one of those people who hates math. I don’t understand it, I don’t enjoy it, and I try not
to do it.
In high school, though, this lifetime resolve to avoid numbers began to conflict with my
equally-fervent desire to have straight A's on my transcript. My years of determinedly
ignoring the multiplication tables turned into many late nights of quadratic equations. For
the first time, I began to listen in math class.
Proverbs is noted as being a book full of wisdom, and this verse — one of the very first
verses in the book — gives an important admonition as to how we should approach the book
of Proverbs: with a heart that is open to listen and learn. Proverbs talks a lot about “fools,”
and it’s probably a safe bet that a fool is not someone who is ready to listen. Fools think they
can do everything on their own ― no guidance necessary.
It’s been said that knowledge is “knowing a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is not putting a
tomato in a fruit salad.” By this same token, we need to take the knowledge we have gained
from listening to Proverbs and put that knowledge into practice. That’s when it becomes
wisdom. Listening in math class, listening to our elders, and most importantly listening to
God — these things help us serve Him better and succeed in life.
Don’t be a fool. Listen to God. I give you full permission, though, to skip the quadratic
equations. You’ll never use them again.
Lord, help me open my heart and listen to your teachings. Help me also to apply those
teachings as I go about my day. Amen.
Go Deeper — Remember the children’s game Simon Says? Grab the kids in your life and
play a few rounds. It’s silly, but fun, and can reinforce the concept of listening well.
More from The Life, here
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