Learning To Learn

Apply your heart to instructionand your ears to words of knowledge.

Proverbs 23:12 (NIV)

What does it mean to apply your heart and your ears to learn and understand? Well, it’s not a fast-food approach to God or his Word. Many of us are so busy we look for shortcuts and quick fixes in almost everything we do, but this approach just does not fly when it comes to our relationship with God. He is the God of the universe, our heavenly Father, and he deserves more.

I once saw a Bible in the store that claimed you could do all your devotional readings in one minute. The concept is you can spend sixty seconds to read several lines from the Bible and call it your devotion time. I know people are busy, but is that really devotion? To devote is “to set apart, to be given wholly or completely to a particular purpose.” And to be devoted is to feel or show great loyalty and fondness.

May I ask, do you love to learn from God? Do you desire to know him more? Do you desire to see the truth and wisdom of God’s Word change you from the inside out? God himself says to you, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3, NKJV).

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6, NKJV). Will you ask the Lord to give you a greater hunger for his Word? Will you ask him to use his Word to speak to your heart and show you something to apply to your life today?

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

“Apply your heart to instruction” is our call to action today. But many wonder why they do not learn well, why they don’t retain lessons they hear at church or on the radio. They don’t remember what they read. Is that you? You are not alone. One big problem is focus. We are multitasking, distracted, and unfocused. Here are some simple tools. Carry a little journal to church, write a few notes, and then share what you learned with someone. When you read a book, underline or highlight things you want to remember, then review them. Pay attention, focus your heart, and learning will come.

One Year Bible Reading

Isaiah 15:1–18:7; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 23:12