The Wisdom of Listening

Leviticus 11-12 Mark 5:21-43 Psalm 38 Proverbs 10:8-9

The wise in heart accept commands,
but a chattering fool comes to ruin. – Proverbs 10:8

I was nineteen. I took a year to live in Colorado after graduating high school and had managed to save more money than I had ever seen at one time in my life. Now, I was on a college campus reunited with my best friends from high school. It was going to be great. Unfortunately, I was too smart for my own good. I looked down on my English professor because I thought I knew more about grammar than she did. I skipped classes I didn’t like or were too easy for me. Homework would only get in the way of my social life, so I didn’t bother with that. It wasn’t long before I was headed home.

It took a few years of working as a house painter to discover that I could learn a lot when I took the time to actually listen to other people rather than determining whether they had anything to offer in just a short conversation. I found that learning from other people’s experience meant not learning it the hard way myself. Now, I am taking advantage of the opportunity to go to a local university and get a degree. Accepting the requirements of different courses and listening to teachers rather have brought me success I did not have before, and will get my degree in December.

Having lived both sides of this Proverb, I can say from my own experience that it is true. Although a college degree is not a certificate of wisdom, I could not get it until I wised up. It took being willing to admit that I am not the smartest guy in the room—to be willing to actually listen and follow directions. This may seem purely practical and not spiritual. But I have found that often times our practical lives are reflections of our spiritual lives.

Father God, help us to be willing to listen to Your instruction and learn. Show us that we are not the smartest people in the room, but that if we are truly wise, we can learn something from just about everybody. Let our experience of learning from You be reflected in learning from others today. Amen.