Get it Done

Solomon's Wisdom Part 4

Proverbs 2 1-5

1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,

2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—

3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,

4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

 

Solomon is talking to you. Right at you.

Do not get your knickers in a knot over the word “son”, we talked about this before, the word ben, along with the usual son, it also means children (male and female) youth, people (of a nation) or member of a guild, order, or class. In other words, it includes everyone!  

He is setting up a conditional statement – if you do this, you will get this. Yes, as always you need to do something in order to get something – the basic law of the jungle. Last night at dinner, a friend and I were talking, and he said he is going to write a book called Just Do It. Everyday he sees people talking, talking, talking, but never doing!

Let’s get back to Solomon.

Laqach, is the word for accept, take, or to fetch. But it means much more in this instance, Solomon is telling you to capture or seize what he is saying and own it. Much more than just hear, believe, but to take hold of what he is saying and make use of it.

This is further emphasized when he tells us to store up or tsaphan, meaning to conceal it with deliberate intent. It is not good enough to learn it but you must make it a part of you. The root of the word tsaphan, is the act of protection; you need to protect what you are learning.

 

Do you get the idea that the arguably wisest man that ever was is sharing something important with you?

We already know that the word for wisdom is chokmah and according to the ancient wisdom of the Kabbalah, in order to get to the “crown or keter” of life you must have wisdom. Under the crown of life wisdom comes , it comes first.

Dr. Ryan Cook wrote; “"Wise people know how to learn; they never seek knowledge for their own sake. They know how to talk; they speak the truth in love. They know how to act; they pursue justice and evade evil. Perceptive people balance their words and actions. They say and do the right things at the right time for the right reasons. The discerning person soon realizes that biblical wisdom is more about practice than philosophy. Wise people live skillfully. They apply heavenly counsel to earthly conduct."

Part of wisdom is the Hebrew word biynah, meaning understanding and discernment. The other part is tabuwn, or gaining insight, discretion, and skill. Earlier Solomon listed several characteristics to gaining wisdom and understanding and the central part of gaining these two are learning submission and passion. In business, we are taught to be in charge to take control; but Jesus always taught the opposite of what everyone else was doing – loving and serving.

So how do we get the highest gift of all, wisdom and understanding? Regardless if you’re are a student, parent, employee, manager, boss, CEO, or owner it is always the same. Follow the following steps.

1. Be teachable – be coachable
   1. Listen with the intent to learn rather than to show what you know
   2. Choose to be open or closed to new ideas, new experiences, others’ ideas, people’s feedback, and willingness to change.
   3. Always pretend to be a beginner or you will be an ender.
   4. Be authentic and encourage others to be so as well.
2. Remember and practise what you learned
   1. Find meaning in your studies – make the studying and the subject being studied important
   2. Putting your learning into practice is important for cementing it in your mind, because practice creates new neural pathways in the brain. Be an encourager and conduit for others to learn from your example.
   3. Teaching other people helps you, too.
   4. Take notes with pen and paper ( or on your computer as I do).
   5. Your brain gets stuck at the first obstacle. As Sean De’Sousa writes; “the brain gets stuck at the first new concept/obstacle. It stops and tries to apply the concept but struggles to do so. But you continue to read the book, watch the video or listen to the speaker. The brain got stuck at the first point, but more points keep coming. And of course, without complete information, you have ‘incomplete information'.

Incomplete information can easily be fixed by making the mistake first hand.”

3. Be a Lifelong Learner (taken from Sam Malone How to Become a Lifelong Learner)

It is based on the acronym PRACTICED, which comes about by reading.

1. Priority. Make the practice of lifelong learning a priority in your life.
2. Reflect. Reflection is a most important aspect of learning. Think deeply about what you have learned
3. Action learning. We learn best by doing things, and we acquire skill by doing things over and over again.
4. Curiosity. A curious mind is a receptacle for learning. The secret of genius is to carry the wonderment of childhood into adulthood.
5. Teach. A great way of learning is to teach others as it consolidates and reinforces our knowledge.
6. Insight. Discovery consists of looking at the same things as everybody else but seeing something different.
7. Concentration. We must develop powers of concentration if we want to learn and excel. Having goals, listening attentively, dealing with distractions effectively, and practicing the technique of mental rehearsal are just some of the ways you can improve your concentration
8. Exercise and nutrition. Build in programs of exercise into your lifelong learning habits so you will keep mentally and physically fit. Physical exercise induces the body to produce an array of chemicals that the brain and, indeed, the heart love.
9. Different learning styles. There are different learning styles, but most of us use a combination of these. Academics have classified learning styles in different ways. One popular method can be recalled by the acronym, VAT, which stands for visual, audial, and tactile. Put simply, we learn by seeing, hearing, and doing.