Tune In

"Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching" (Proverbs 4:1-2).

The world is a noisy place. Music, traffic, conversations, billboards, commercials, lectures, questions, iPods, stereos, radios, televisions, cell phones, airplanes, and much more make the world a very noisy place. The voice of a father to his sons has lots of competition. Hence the call to listen.

My own experience in life tells me that I can "hear" what a person is telling me but that does not necessarily mean I am listening. Today's passage is a call to listen! The call is for each of us to pay attention to the precepts of authority.

While previous Proverbs have a father exhorting his son, today's passage exhorts a plurality of "sons." The father commands his sons to listen. He knows what other wise fathers have known throughout the years; you can't learn if you don't listen. It is imperative that we tune in to truth. Because the noisy world competes for our attention, we must tune our ears to the precepts of God's Word.

What does it take to tune in to truth? It takes a disciplined and attentive ear that has purposed to tune out the noisy world long enough to truly listen. It takes a willingness to not just "hear" what is said, but to listen to what is said. My 27 years of marriage have taught me to listen with my face, not just my ears. Tuning in to the Lord is an active discipline of "eye contact." It is a discipline of being with Him in prayer and study, in an intimate "face to face" encounter.

As the noisy world continues to get noisier, it is so important that followers of Christ purposefully break away from the noise in order to listen to the precepts of God. Acquiring the needed wisdom we need for everyday life will not happen unless we tune in to what the Lord is saying.