August 4

Aug 4 - Today from Proverbs 4 we look at verse 1
"Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding." (NIV)
"Here, ye children, the instructions of a father, and attend to know understanding." (KJV)

Panic gripped her little heart. Just moments ago the seven-year-old was at her mother's side, walking toward the departure gate. Something caught her attention in the window of one of the dozens of gift shops in the huge airport, and she stopped to look. So many nice things, she especially liked one particular colorful Swatch. She turned to her mother to ask if she might buy it only to realize her mother had not stopped with her. Now all she could see were scores of strangers walking by, her mother nowhere in sight. "Remember, if we get separated, you stay right where you are. I will come looking for you." Her mother's words played in her mind and some of the panic subsided. She wanted to run ahead and look, but she trusted her mother and she stayed right by the window. Her eyes scanned the crowd of busy people in the direction in which she and her mother were walking. Then, quite far ahead, she saw a familiar gait, and a familiar dress coming in her direction. The woman was too far away to clearly see her face, but the little girl knew it was her mother. In a matter of minutes there was relief as mother and daughter were reunited.
In today's proverb the point of focus is the phrase "attend to know understanding." The Hebrew word which is interpreted gain in the NIV and know in the KJV literally means to ascertain by sight. The KJV is closer to the literal meaning, but both interpretations are correct.
How was the little girl in the story able to pick her mother out of a large crowd at a significant distance? She knew her mother. She spent significant amounts of time with her mother. She came to know the unique movements of her mother's walk. She knew the clothes her mother wore. There was a bond between them so that they were both able to identify each other even at a distance in a large crowd. Just as the little girl knew her mother, I think the teacher wanted his students to know understanding (KJV) - to immediately recognize truth when they saw it. But you don't get it by hearing it just one time and in one way.
When a person is involved in physical therapy after suffering loss of the use of their leg, they seek to re-gain the use of that leg. They may go for days of excruciating therapy and never see any improvement. Then one day, they are able to do something that they hadn't before. They see some gain in their effort. As believers, we are admonished to gain in our understanding of life the way God meant it to be. This is why it is so important to develop a habit of daily devotions. This is why it is so important to worship with a body of believers on a regular basis. This is why it is so important to continually practice the truths that we do learn. This is how we gain understanding (NIV). We need to spend significant time with the Lord so that we know understanding when we see it, and we need to spend significant time in study, worship and practice so that we gain understanding. This is the way of the disciple.