Proverbs 2:1-11 with Pastor Kyle Johnston
HIGHLIGHTS of Proverbs 2:1-11:
- Review: chapters 1-9 speak of the necessity of wisdom for living rightly
- How do we get wisdom?
- Verses 1-4 address the requirements for obtaining wisdom:
- Receiving; treasuring up; making the ear attentive; and inclining one’s heart
- These speak of right affections for the things of God
- Pro 2:1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
- The heart is the command center from where the intellect, will and emotions are directed
- Call out: ask God; pray for wisdom
- Seek: search as though you are looking for hidden treasure – work, sense of urgency…
- Currently, how would you describe your search for wisdom?
- Wisdom brings protection into your life, from God
- He gives wisdom via His word and Spirit
- When one receives God’s wisdom, he experiences inner transformation which enables him to develop understanding and discretion: choices are improved by God’s gift and by what it works within one
- That is, one’s affections and desires are changed from the inside by God’s word, His work, and His gift of wisdom to those who ask and seek for it
Link to this 12-part study by Pastor Kyle Johnston; YouTube site Word at Work:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZMc95tZPrsMQQEhNQTi0rNYKQpHdZqSG
Want to grow in wisdom? Stick with us as we work through these chapters, subscribe to our channel and become part of the Word at Work online community.
THIS IS MY FINAL POST ON KYLE JOHNSTON’S SERIES, USE THE ABOVE LINK TO EXPLORE IT FURTHER.
SOME PERSONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ABOVE:
The above seems to indicate that when one partakes of God’s appointed means of grace which are reading the word, hearing biblical preaching, praying, taking the Lord’s supper and fellowship with other believers around the word of God, a person is humbled, reproved, corrected… transformed, by God’s Spirit through these means.
Those things facilitate a right walk with the Lord because they transform the affections as in Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
That is, a person is not changed by working on his own behaviors… which are only the fruit of his heart. But he is changed by God because he has found the knowledge of God via His word; in the process, God changes the ROOT in his heart, which then bears more godly fruit.
This is hard to comprehend because we all want to do something to improve ourselves. The above method, given by God, is more of an indirect approach: we focus on partaking of God’s means of grace; the means of grace work internal change in us, causing us to love God and His word….
One last thought, how much more would one benefit from meditation on God’s word via memorization?