Proverbs 5:1. My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
In college I had a professor that would pause once in a while, put his hands up to the sides of his mouth and whisper, “Are you listening?” That’s what Solomon is doing here. He’s pausing to remind his children to pay attention. To listen up. Paying attention is a skill. Attentiveness is something that you have to practice and work hard at in order to become good at it.
What do you pay attention to? Are you a good listener? How’s your attention span? How’s your attention span with spiritual things? If you’re like most people, it’s pretty short.
That’s why the Bible (especially Proverbs) is so repetitive. Because we forget things so easily. Because we forget who we are in Christ so easily, we need constant reminders of our union with Christ. Peter described this problem in his second epistle:
2 Peter 1:3-9. 3His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
The same thing that Solomon is reminding his kids about wisdom is what Peter is reminding us about Jesus and our union to his character. Peter’s claim is that a lack of character (virtue, knowledge, self-control steadfastness, godliness, love, and affection) comes from a failure to remember that you have been cleansed from your former sins.
At first this might not seem to make sense. Why would remembering that I am forgiven make me want to have a higher quality of character? Doesn’t forgiveness and grace just make us want to slack off in our godliness and character? Of course, the answer is a resounding NO. Grace must never make us want to slack off. And in truth, the more we understand God’s grace and our forgiveness, the more we want to become like Christ in all his character traits and virtues.
There is no becoming like Christ without launching from an understanding and remembrance of your forgiveness. Without the complete absolution of Christ, we will work on our character to our own destruction. It will all be from earning and for self-righteousness. But paying attention to the forgiveness of God allows our character development to be from humility, from love, and from faith.
You: What do you pay attention to the most each day? Is the wisdom of Christ on your radar?
You in Christ: Have you forgotten your forgiveness? How might your day be different if you remembered God’s grace in Christ throughout?
Christ in you: How does remembering that we are forgiven allow us to develop true Christ-like character?
Pray: Jesus, I want to pay attention to you, listen to you, and understand you more and more. Help me to never forget the good news of my forgiveness and your grace. Amen.
To Live is Christ 