Proverbs 8:33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
Do you know any know-it-alls? You probably do. How much does a know-it-all know? Well, ironically, a know-it-all doesn’t know very much, although he thinks that he knows a lot. A know-it-all is very quick to open his mouth and tell you what he thinks he knows.
Abraham Lincoln supposedly said, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Proverbs is the basis for such thinking. In Proverbs 8:32 wisdom personified says, “Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.” Wisdom is a choice. Wisdom is not something that some people are just born with and others are not. Savvy for life, practical smarts, God’s mind on our matters is a matter of choice, an attitude.
Verse 34 says, “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” So Proverbs has described wisdom as something for which we need to watch and wait. It is something that we seek. What is interesting is that how you speak reveals whether you have wisdom or not, but how you listen produces wisdom.
Today, I don’t need to sound smart or wise. I don’t need to make people think anything. God knows what and who I am, and God is the only One Who can ultimately make who I am better as I respond with an open heart and a willing mind to His truth. In short, you don’t become wise by sounding smart. You become wise by listening wisely.