THE CONDITIONS

Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; (2) So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; (3) Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; (4) If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; (5) Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

This father continues his monologue; or since this is implied to be God speaking to us, should I say, ‘this Father continues His monologue?

What is He telling us? What is He teaching us? What precept is He imparting to us?

How come that with so much religion, there is so little deep true faith? How come that with so many Churches opened every Sunday, with so many stores selling religious material, with so many TV and radio stations teaching about God, so many do not understand the fear of the Lord, and do not find the knowledge of God? If I were hungry after eating a copious and rich meal, I would stop and wonder if what I ate was real food, or if maybe I ate at all.

Let us now analyze the issue.

The text says, “if thou wilt receive my words . . .” The word ‘wilt’ in the KJV is not the used as we do today. It is not the future tense of the verb to be. It is a verb that denotes of the notion of personal will. In today’s English we could say: ‘if you will want’, (emphasis on want).

Our text continues with: “to receive”. There is a tendency to read the Word of God as if it were philosophy. Philosophy only requires to be accepted mentally. We process it and change it according to times and season. The word of God says that it needs to simply be received if we want to enjoy the benefits thereof. Could it be that all this Word is read as it were philosophy and not received at face value?

Finally, the text says, ‘my words’. The author here is God. We will never understand the fear of the Lord; neither will we find the knowledge of God by listening to someone else’s words or hearing a person’s private processing and understanding of the Word.

To obtain the benefits of the Word, we have to desperately want it, and unquestionably receive it. It needs to become our personal inclination and we need to apply our heart to it. It must be His Word, heard in our own spirit straight from the heart of God, and without the adultering and processing of man’s teaching. Anything else will eventually turn to spiritual confusion.