Proverbs 2:1-22
Before taking up the education of her son, wisdom sounds out his inclinations. Has he decided to let himself be instructed so as to find the knowledge of God? (v. 5). Does he willingly apply himself to the discipline of this "school"? In practice, no teaching is at all profitable if it is not accompanied by the desire to obtain this knowledge, and with a sense of its importance. It often happens that a bad scholar becomes a good pupil as soon as he understands that his future depends on how he works.
Here then is the wisdom and understanding offered to us. God puts no limit on the measure of the gifts of His Spirit (John 3:34). But at the same time we have to desire them and earnestly seek them by prayer (v. 3; cf. 1 Corinthians 14:1). Vv. 1 to 4 invite the believer to a seven-fold effort. In truth, if our heart is not firmly and personally committed to the Lord, the best of educations will not be able to keep us for long (cf. vv. 10, 11; see Daniel 1:8). We shall have a tendency to conform to the company in which we find ourselves; we shall then be at the mercy of bad influences (vv. 12-22). And we shall run the risk of making the day we leave the family home a fatal turning point (read 1 Corinthians 15:33).