Insights from Proverbs 2:1-6

Proverbs 2:1-6
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Sometimes short passages of scriptures contain some great nuggets of inspiration. Here are the insights I had while reading this morning:

In verse 1- The first thing I notice is the if. Whether or not we receive God's word is a choice. It's not automatic and it's not forced. The second thing I notice is receive. To receive something is to take possession of it. We don't just read it, skim it, or pass it along. We take it and try to make it part of who and what we are.

In verse 2- To incline our ear unto something means that we listen carefully to it. We don't let distractions take our attention away from it. Once we've "inclined" our ear to wisdom it's then up to us to apply what we've learned so that it reaches our heart, not just our mind. When we let wisdom settle in our heart we come to true understanding- we can't rely on our logic and our brains alone.

In verse 3- We have to cry and lift up our voice for knowledge and understanding. It's not enough to passively read and attempt to absorb it. We have to verbally cry out (pray) to God for the knowledge and understanding that we desire and that He intends for us to have.

In verse 4- Which one of us, if told that there was a buried treasure in our backyard would not go out immediately and start digging to find it? If you knew with certainty that the treasure was there to be found, would you give up after digging only one or two holes? Or would you continue tearing up the entire yard until it was found? I think a lot of times our search for God's wisdom is more like a half-hearted scratching of the surface than a serious and intentional search for treasure. That's a shame because what earthly treasure could even compare to the hidden treasure of God's wisdom and understanding?

In verse 5- If we take the time and put forth the sincere effort to gain wisdom through God, then (after the hard work) we will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. We will have understanding in our hearts that will help us in every decision we make. We won't make choices based on fear, people's approval, greed, selfishness, or ignorance. We will make deliberate choices based on the wisdom granted by God.

In verse 6 - This says it all. True wisdom, knowledge and understanding come from God. The Lord gives us wisdom if we'll just put forth the effort to obtain it.