Fear of the LordSample

Who Are You Listening To? 

Remember when we talked about Solomon's cause and effect, and if/then in his teachings? Well, he continues with this if/then logic as he moves us toward the foundation of wisdom in fearing the Lord. As believers, we have learned that we are supposed to believe God's Word and store it in our hearts. Now, we are going to talk about turning our ear to wisdom. 

Proverbs 2:1-2 says:

1 My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,

2 turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding—

Here, again, Solomon is helping us look at the disciplines that guarantee results. As a Christian psychologist, I have seen many patterns that people create in their lives. I am amazed at how often I see Christian clients express the belief that magical or made-up ideas will compensate for years or decades of irresponsibility. They want God to go against His own principle of sowing and reaping—whether it's about consequences or blessings. 

Some clients believe that the choice they made to commit adultery shouldn't have the negative impact that it did on their spouse or marriage, but in reality, this sin creates multiple difficulties on the spouse and the marriage. There are others who believe that blessings come easily and without effort. I try to remind those seeking blessings to read Psalm 128:2, where it states, "You will eat the fruit of your labor". Overall, I encourage you to evaluate the patterns that you have control over in your life. Are they healthy patterns? Are they Godly patterns? 

Solomon wants us to be careful about what we are listening to and absorbing. What we hear, we imagine, we weigh, we dialogue with, and may actually come to accept as truth. People who are watching propaganda of any kind (health, wealth, politics, etc.) will believe whatever it is if they repetitively hear it. It's not about just listening, but receiving. If you engross yourself in anything, you will become an evangelist for it, good or bad. 

In Proverbs 2:2, Solomon tells us to disciple our ears to wisdom. How do we do this as Christians? Let me offer some suggestions. As believers in Jesus Christ, we can go to church regularly and hear the word of God, which can build our faith. We can watch Christian television regularly. We can listen to audiobooks or podcasts on any Christian subject we desire to learn more about. We can participate in various forms of social media and converse with fellow believers on Christian forums. We can listen to Christian radio. There are so many different ways to advance our Christian walk through these various outlets.

However, there are many tempestuous forms of communication and entertainment in the secular world as well. The secular world has all of the same outlets and inroads to provide their "golden narrative" to your ear, which can soak into your heart. The question I want to ask you is who is getting your ear time? Only you can evaluate this for yourself. Does your ear hear more of God's Word or the world's secular narrative? 

Solomon's advice to attain the fear of God is to have discipline toward the things of God and be less focused on what the world says. I want to be clear: throughout your Christian walk you will hear secular values and you will hear worldly things. An important question to ask yourself is, who has your ears attention most of the time? Who or what are you intentionally listening to? These answers can help you decide if you are turning your ear to wisdom.