Listen to Instruction, Part 2

Yesterday, we saw how important it is to listen to instruction.

A good friend of mine modeled well such confident and humble leadership when he asked his six-year old son for suggestions on how he could be a better father.  The boy’s first response was, “You’re a great Dad; I don’t think you could be better.”  But later in the day, after some difficult interactions between the father and another sibling, the boy came back and said, “Dad, one way you could be a better Dad is to not get angry when we make mistakes or disobey.”  My point here is not that parents should do whatever their children want them to do, but that, in a context of confident and humble authority delegated by God, a leader need not be insecure about wise feedback, even from those he leads.

Jesus himself told us that Solomon’s wise advice was not the ultimate instruction for us to heed.  Solomon was a picture of the Savior to come, the man who was God and who spoke only God’s own words.  In answer to those who wanted Jesus to prove himself to them, he said, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Matt 12:42).  Jesus, as God’s ultimate representative (Heb 1:1-4),repeatedly reminded people, “Truly, truly, I say to you….”  As God in flesh, Jesus had no need to speak tentatively.  In fact, one title for Jesus is the Word (John 1:1).  Our objective in studying Proverbs is not just to listen to Solomon but, far more importantly, to make sure we are listening to Jesus.

Our default is to listen to anything but the Lord Jesus.  Our own hearts whisper sweet promises of joy, fulfillment, and satisfaction in anything other than the righteousness of Jesus.  The world gives apparent credibility to these promises, offering us easy money, easy sex, and whatever else will make us truly happy.  The devil prowls about seeking to destroy us, exploiting opportunities to showcase these lies and to hide the reality of their vicious consequences from us.

Thus Solomon comes back to it again and again: “Hear…listen…pay attention.”  The second step on the path of wisdom is really the same as the first.  We just have to keep taking it over and over again.