THE PROVERBS TRIPLET– THREE STEPS TO GOD’S LIFE-CHANGING WISDOM

Proverbs 2:1-6 (ESV)
¹  My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, ²  making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; ³  yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, ⁴  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, ⁵  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. ⁶  For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING, WISDOM
Over and over these three words appear in Proverbs, and are the steps in the process for gaining the life-changing power of the wisdom of God in your life.

Here’s how it works:
KNOWLEDGE: Information, facts, data, words. This is the raw material used to build ultimately who we are.
(In Bible Study this is step #1: What does it SAY? Do I know the words?)

UNDERSTANDING: We learn, we gather information, truths, and the facts. Then through the process of thought, study, reason, we put our knowledge together through INTERPRETATION of the facts, how the pieces of information work together, and decide what it MEANS. This is what UNDERSTANDING is.
(In Bible Study this is step #2: What does it MEAN? What Truths and Principles are revealed?)

WISDOM: Wisdom is asking the question, “How does this apply to me?” It takes the theories, understanding, and the truths out of the realm of speculation, and makes it very real in your life in real time. It is the application of knowledge and understanding to the circumstances of our lives today.
(In Bible Study this is Step #3: How does it apply to me?)

Now, when we know and understand God’s Word, and we are aware of what we ought to DO about it, there is only one Step left to take; What is our RESPONSE? Will we do what we ought? Will we be obedient to our Lord? Is our answer to Christ “Yes, Lord”, or “No”?

Now out of the knowledge, understanding and wisdom of God we develop what we Believe, our FAITH, our worldview about how things are, how life works, what we believe about God, ourselves, our theology, morality, etc.

And so from our Faith comes our Works, our deeds, our actions. After all, “…faith without works is dead…” according to James. Simply put, you act according to what you genuinely believe is true.

So out of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, we gain faith and actions. From accumulated actions we build Habits (Church attendance, Daily Devotional time, loving our neighbor…), from accumulated habits we build Character (Godly, loving, kind, wise…), and the sum of our Character traits is who we are, our IDENTITY.

This is the pathway to the life-changing power of God’s Word, to transform you, your life, and your world.

If you have attended Church and Bible Study for years and feel that you should be further along in your spiritual maturity, that you should have experienced a greater degree of change and improvement in yourself, life, and world, it may be that you haven’t been taught the great importance of Steps 3 and 4.

Because it is when we live out the Word of God in our lives that the power of God is unleashed. This is how we LIVE by Faith, WALK by Faith, and grow in Christlikeness.

Here again is the simple 4-Step Bible Study method based on the Proverbs Triplet of Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom:

What does it SAY? Do I know the words?
What does it MEAN? What are the Truths here?
How does it APPLY to ME? In my life and circumstances today?
What am I going to DO about it? Will I tell Jesus Christ Yes or No?

May the grace of God, the power of His Word, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit bless, strengthen, and guide you my Friend as you grow in your faith.

~Johnny
8-18-17

Blog: www.johnnydtaylor.com
Email: johnny@johnnydtaylor.com
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Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
King James Version, public domain.