PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge” (Proverbs 18:15).

The prudent fellow is the careful man that is cautious in judgment. They are not interested in getting lies and falsehoods. They want the truth. The heart, not the brain, getting knowledge. Head knowledge can only accomplish so much, but when you have heart knowledge—you have it all.

You’ll never really have much knowledge if it is just in your brain, “and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.” The ear is connected to the heart.

In Acts 28, Paul quotes Isaiah: “Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (Acts 28:26-28).

Paul is here reviling the Jews that have rejected the Gospel and rejected Christ, he tells them that they have ears, but they are not open and could not understand, and they had eyes to see but they could not perceive what they were seeing. The problem was not with the eyes or the ears, but the “heart of this people is waxed gross.” They heard and they saw, but the heart would not let them understand.

If there were a problem in America it is that their hearts are waxed gross. Americans have heard the Gospel until they are sick of it. Some are still open to it, but not as many as could be. Religion has left a bad name and a bad taste in the mouths of most Americans. Their hearts are waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes to the truth.

Let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread!

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