A couple of years ago my son had his first end of the school year testing/evaluation done. I homeschooled him that first grade year, and I wanted to see how he was doing. I needed an outsider’s evaluation of his strengths and weaknesses, and of course to make sure that he was on track academically. I am willing to bet that I was more nervous about this test than my son was, because along with homeschooling comes many challenging days. There are days that you consider a total wash, as far as academics go, because sometimes you are dealing with constant bad attitudes and out of control emotions. I was just hoping that amongst all the crazy days, there had been enough good days where I had provided him with sufficient, educational moments.
The great thing about the testing we had done was that the results were immediate. As soon as he was finished with his test, the test proctor pulled up the results on her computer screen to go over them with us. As the proctor began going over the results with my husband and I, she looked at us with a smile and said, “First, I would like to let you know that your son hears very well! Most parents are surprised by how well their children can actually hear. So the next time your son give you the excuse that “I just didn’t hear you,” you let him know that you have test results that prove otherwise!” We laughed when she shared this with us, because of course we had heard that excuse from our son more times than we could count, and she was probably betting on the fact that we had!
I was thankful to learn that my son could in fact hear and hear well. So any time he lack to respond or obey what he had heard, now revealed an issue of his heart. Sometimes our “want to” or “don’t want to” attitudes can get in the way of what we should do.
Reading Proverbs 4:10 took me back to this testing day. The test proctor’s affirmation about our son’s ability to hear rang loudly in my mind as I read and dwelled upon this verse. She was letting us know that a lack of response from our son was not due to his hearing but instead it had everything to do with his heart. Upon reading this verse from Proverbs, conviction and self-evaluation quickly set in. This verse says, “Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.”
This Proverb provides a clear, two-step process, with the second part probably being more vital than the first. Hearing God’s words is one thing, but accepting them and striving to live by them… well, that is where the honey’s at! Although hearing is important and necessary, it is certainly not enough. What good is it if I hear God’s words, and then turn around to only reject them and fail to live by them?
As I evaluate my own heart and life, I have to say honestly that I have not always accepted His words. Hear them? Yes! But accepting them is not always easy. Accepting, requires a dying to self, and I find that there is a constant need for me to lay down my will and way in exchange for His. Our ears can hear, our minds can agree, but our hearts… our hearts must accept and follow!
Psalm 119:12
“I incline my heart to perform your decrees to the very end.”
Highlighting the hope that we have in Christ! 