Episode Transcript
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
Proverbs 2:1–11 NIV
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
CONSIDER
Have you ever heard it said of a person, "He's got a lot more want to than will do," or "She talks a good game, but she never really plays," or "Actions speak louder than words," or "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"?
Those are all proverbs. These particular ones get at wisdom from the backside by warning us. Other proverbs approach wisdom through the front door by winning us.
The proverbs, like the rest of the Bible, do not aim to inform us. They aim to transform us into a certain kind of person. They catalyze the beautiful yet arduous process of becoming.
The Bible concerns itself far more with who God wants us to become rather than what we need to know or do. To be clear, doing is essential, but right actions coming from wrong motives are, for all practical purposes, wrong actions. They are useless. If you don't believe me, read this. Jesus embraced sinners of every stripe, but he had no tolerance for people whose so-called right actions came from bad motives. There's a word for it: hypocrite.
Today's text cuts right to the chase. It invites aspiration. To aspire to or for something implies going after it with all you've got. Think of someone you know who aspires to be wealthy, or someone who aspires to have the perfect body, or who aspires to be a professional athlete. These are not people who talk a good game and carry good intentions. They are all-in people, going for the prize with every ounce of their being. Chances are, these kinds of people are becoming exactly what they are beholding.
This is how wisdom works. Consider the verbs alone from today's text:
accept my words
store up my commands
turn your ear to wisdom
apply your heart to understanding
call out for insight
cry aloud for understanding
look for it as for silver
search for it as for hidden treasure
These words/phrases describe what it means to aspire. This little word, aspire, comes from the Latin word, aspirare. It means, "to breathe." Wisdom is to life as oxygen is to breathing.
Are you ready to aspire for wisdom? That's really half the battle—getting to that place in your innermost self.
Did you pick up the promise tucked into today's text? It's the "then" to the big "ifs."
For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
PRAY
Lord Jesus, you are the wisdom of heaven on earth—pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. You are my wisdom, and I am your witness. I want to know you better today. Praying in your name, amen.
