(Prov 23:12 NIV) Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
This morning we continue our series, “Unlocking the Power of Proverbs – Walking in the Wisdom of God.” This is the 12th Saying: an Admonition to follow Wisdom. In one sense this entire book is an admonition to follow the wisdom of God. Time and time again Solomon urges us to accept and apply God’s wisdom (His way of doing things), so that we can experience Godly results and so that the Father can be glorified through our life and living.
To set the stage for this verse I will take you all the way back to chapter two where the Father, through Solomon, said: “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” (2:1-5). The ‘if’ portion requires us to fulfill eight things. If we fulfill the requirement, we qualify for the ‘then’ portion, which promises we will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the sake of this lesson, let’s assume you fulfilled the “if” requirement and you now have access to divine revelation. In today’s lesson Solomon tells us what we are to do with it – APPLY IT! What good is knowledge if we are not going to apply it? What good is having the information if we have no intentions of application?
As believers, not only are we to search for, thirst for, and pursue divine wisdom, and once we find it, not only are we to lay hold of it and take possession of it in our hearts, but when it is all said and done, the goal of the information is application. The Bible is not a textbook to study, but rather a life-book to live. I would venture to say that our generation is the most Bible-education generation in history. We attend Bible studies, read daily devotionals, read countless Christian books, subscribe to Christian magazines, attend multiple church services on a weekly basis, and… oh yeah, we even read our Bible. I often refer to myself as a “Word man;” meaning that I put God’s Word first place in my heart. And I know many “Word men” and “Word women,” but none of this head knowledge means anything if it does not produce heart knowledge. Knowing the Word of God does not guarantee that you know the God of the Word! To know the God of the Word you have to turn the corner from information to application, from classroom to lab (hands-on) teaching, from reading to doing, from imagining to trying, from hearing about faith to living by faith!
So what does this mean to you today? Two things:
Step 1: Get the Word down inside of you. Once you fear the Lord and you accept the validity of God’s Word, then you open yourself up to receive His Word in your heart and you open your ears to His knowledge. Once the door to your heart is open, then the Word will begin to get down inside of you and you will find yourself slowing, but surely, being transformed in your thinking and your belief system.
Step 2: Live out what you have stored in. Getting the Word down inside of you is great, but when you get to heaven God will not ask you how many scriptures you memorized, He will want to know how many you LIVED. You must cross the line from information to application is the Word is ever going to produce fruit in your life. What is the purpose of learning if your learning does not turn into living? Determine to LIVE the Word daily!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for Your Word. Even though I study the Bible I realize that it is not merely a textbook to study, it is a life-book to live and I am determined to LIVE the Word daily. I get Your Word down inside of me. I hide Your Word in my heart. Your truth is written upon the tablets of my soul. Your instruction is the foundation for my life. But getting all this Word means nothing if I am not determined to LIVE it. Therefore, I declare, by faith, that I will turn the corner from information to application, from studying to doing, from learning to living, and my life will never be the same. From this day forward I LIVE my life BY FAITH! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
