Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.
Proverbs 23.12
Positioned in stark contrast to the previous saying that characterizes those who despise godly wisdom as fools, the sage instructs us to be different: to intentionally bake into our inner-most being godly instruction [1] and knowledge.
“Apply” is an imperative in the Hebrew text. Applying your ears is another way of saying, “pay attention and listen” (22:17a).[2] We don’t have a choice. Christian business owners must apply themselves to learning godly wisdom and instruction if we are to be the stewards God intends us to be. We must pursue it to find it. And this pursuit will require time, energy, and intentionality. We will not receive God’s wisdom if we are cavalier about pursuing his presence and studying his word. “Godly wisdom is not lightly picked up, nor lightly imparted.[3]
In this saying, the sage starts with our hearts and then moves to our ears. By mentioning the heart first and then the ears, we are reminded that acquiring godly wisdom isn’t first an intellectual exercise. Instead, it starts with our willing submission to God and then moves to an attitude of humility. Only then can God build his wisdom into our hearts and minds: “Only when the heart wants to listen can one’s ears hear the truth.”[4]
Education is vital to one’s life. I would suggest that the wise man keeps learning and growing, not just professionally but also personally. Many Christians who own businesses are interested in learning more about their trade, craft, and industry. So they read, they attend conferences, they invest in developing professional relationships. They stay on top of advances and innovations in their industry. Some take classes and pass difficult licensing exams. They grow in their professional development.
Many Christians do not have a similar emphasis on growing close to Christ. They do not often study the word of God. They might occasionally attend Bible study or listen to a Sunday morning sermon, but they tend not to be self-fed. Thus, they rob themselves of a primary means of learning and growth: digging into the Scriptures on their own and hearing God’s specific message for them for that hour, that day, that season (1 Timothy 4.7-8). Recall from the Prologue that the Hebraic understanding of knowledge is more about experience and devotion than about sheer accumulation and recall of facts. The instruction referred to in this saying will guide us to an intimate relationship with God. It will discipline us in ways that deepen our trust in the Lord and our honesty with Him and ourselves. Let’s not be like the fool. Let’s pursue God’s wisdom with intentionality and passion.
[1] “to instruction”: לַמּוּסָ֣ר fromיסר, discipline, chastisement, training; in this verse, a message describing how something is to be done. This word is also used in the next verse, 13a, translated discipline. It would stand to reason that instruction on how to accomplish a task would necessarily require the student to discipline himself to follow the instruction. Deuteronomy 11.2, “…consider the discipline of the Lord your God…”; Job 5.17, “…despise not the discipline of the Almighty…”; Job 36.10, “…he opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from their iniquity.” See also James 1.22-25.
[2] Buzzell, 956.
[3] Kidner, 144.
[4] Lennox, 241.
