[vc_row height=”small” el_class=”dailyBody” css=”.vc_custom_1465516518912{margin-top: -25px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/4″][us_separator height=”10px” size=”custom”][us_image image=”31638″ size=”tnail-1×1″][us_separator height=”20px” size=”custom”][us_sharing providers=”email,facebook,twitter,gplus”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
An intelligent heart acquires knowledge and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. – Proverbs 18:15
It’s fascinating to me that this proverb does not say “the mind” acquires knowledge. Solomon wants us to key in on “the heart” for a moment, because the knowledge he alludes to does not stop at mere cognition. Abraham Kuyper suggests “the heart” is the root unity of our human existence. When Scripture refers to the heart, it seems to be the life-center by which everything else flows. From our hearts come desire, emotion, motivation, and personality. Yet, the heart may be our most fragile part because it touches the depth and breadth of who we are. This is why collecting wisdom in our heart is of utmost importance, and why gaining wisdom at this depth is risky. Wisdom of the heart has the potential to change our very core.
In a method typical of Hebrew poetry, the second line of this proverb repeats the first, but it focuses more specifically on the “ear of the heart.” Solomon uses imagery to push the readers to recognize there’s a way by which we attune the ear of our heart to gain a knowledge that goes beyond information and deepens our perceptiveness and insight for living. Learning wisdom at our core will affect everything. That’s why true wisdom is found in the heart; not just in the head. At that depth, it can’t help but flow out of us. If that’s the case, how do we get the goodness of wisdom inside?
Just like the body needs consistent and intentional nourishing, so does the heart. We all know how to feed the body, but we must also feed our life-center. The Apostle Paul would suggest feeding our beliefs through repeated renewal of the mind (Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:4-9). James K. A. Smith would suggest feeding our desires through repeated behavior (Desiring the Kingdom). Cognitive Behavioral Theory would suggest retraining both mind and body. However, if we align our minds and our behavior with the ways of wisdom, it will change us. The key is attuning the ear of our heart to the voice of wisdom, willing to let the way of wisdom captivate us. It feels more like falling in love and nourishing our love with more knowledge of our beloved. The more our hearts yield in surrendered posture joined with the discipline of acquiring wisdom from God’s Word, the more our hearts will delight in the Lord and in the wisdom of his ways. Let’s spend a few moments today reading Proverbs 28 praying to fall more in love God’s wisdom.[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_column_text]
By Yvonne Biel
[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″]
[/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
