Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life. Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding. That’s right—if you make Insight your priority and won’t take no for an answer, searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt. Believe me, before you know it, Fear of God will be yours; you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God. Proverbs 2
It starts with the heart
Israel’s king Solomon says, “take to heart what I’m telling you.” In other words, you will not last (at anything) without a full-heart commitment. Your attitude cannot be, “let me try this,” it will not work.
Your heart represents your life, commitment, and ability to keep going. You will only go as far as your heart allows you. If your heart is not “in” it, your commitment will not be either.
The first sign of discomfort will send you running home. It will not work because you will last only as long as your comfort level is intact. Jesus gave an illustration about this using a farmer sowing seeds. Some of them landed in a stony place with shallow soil. The seed took and began to grow, but as soon as the sun’s heat fell on them, they withered and died.
The uncomfortableness of the heat was too much because there was no depth of commitment in the roots. In other words, the heart said, “let me try this,” and it did not work out.
Once your heart is ready to go the distance, you start by taking seriously what the word of God says. This is why finding a Bible translation you relate to is vital. If the King James translation makes sense to you, then use it. However, if it is hard to follow, find one that speaks to your heart by painting the picture you can understand. There are over 60 (English) translations; one of them will undoubtedly talk to you. Here is why this is so important.
Collect my counsels
Solomon is saying it is not enough to read the word of God. In other words, having a “read-through-the-Bible” program (in itself) is not sufficient. Collect my counsels implies learning what is said. This is why having a translation you understand is essential. It enables you to put in your own words what you read.
Consider the above scripture from The Message Bible. “searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt.” For me, I see an old California 49er in a shallow creek bed huddled over a tin pan, panning for gold. The image paints a picture of patient determination—how you approach a close personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
One of my exercises is researching the Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic language and writing my translation (I call it the Evans translation). It is a fun exercise that helps me better understand a verse of scripture.
Guard them with your life
What do you have in life that you are willing to give your life for; family, a possession, or belonging? Can you imagine how important it must be to you to carry that same mindset about the word of God?
You and I have entered a world where people are willing to force their beliefs on someone else. If you are not committed to what you believe and are ready to give your life for it, you will lose it.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom
The Bible defines wisdom as skill, understanding, and knowledge. Its pages are full of each, and a lifetime of learning will not exhaust what it holds.
There are many voices in the world today. I find it interesting that Solomon used the idea of your ears with learning. Building a close personal relationship with the Godhead means learning who (and what) to listen to and who not to listen to.
Set your heart on a life of Understanding
Solomon started by referencing the heart, and he concluded the same way. Your heart is the key to a close personal relationship with the Godhead (as well as anything else in life). The world today is filled with people devoted to death and destruction. You will follow whatever your heart is set on. A life of understanding goes deeper than just understanding the Bible (although that is a life-long learning process). It includes understanding life itself. In another place in Solomon’s book of wisdom, he pens that God delights in concealing things, and scientists delight in discovering things. In other words, God hides it so you can find it!
Before you know it, Fear of God will be yours; you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God—and (I might add) a close personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Join me in the journey; it will be life-altering.