seekers

Proverbs 18:15


Intelligent people are always open to new ideas.

     In fact, they look for them. (NLT, 1st edition)


The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,

    for the ears of the wise seek it out. (NIV)


Clever people go after knowledge to obtain it,

    and wise people attune their ears to hear it. (The Voice)


Wise men and women are always learning,

    always listening for fresh insights. (The Message)


Wise people want to learn more,

     so they listen closely to gain knowledge. (ERV)


An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,

    and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (ESV)


The mind of the prudent is ever getting knowledge,

     and the ear of the wise is ever seeking (inquiring for and craving) knowledge. (Amplified)



Ya know, I looked & looked through the various translations on Bible Gateway of this verse.

        The ones I quotes are about a third or a fourth of all the English translations they provide.

I couldn't find a single version that softened what is being said here.

All my life I've heard the phrase, "we've never done it that way before", both inside the church, & in the world in general.

But it would seem that the attitude of keeping things as they are, or going back to "the good ol' days" in recent decades has been ascendent.

     (trust me, "the good ol' days" weren't all that good!)


I grew up on a farm in the 1950's & 1960's in southwestern Ohio.

We had chickens, registered Corriedale sheep, a vegetable garden, a grape arbor, pastures - you get the picture.

I learned many valuable lessons on that farm, but there is one immutable, universal lesson I saw lived out day in & day out.


Living things either change & grow, or they die.


There aren't any other choices or options to that situation.

There is no such thing as maintaining, keeping things as they are, or plateauing.

Living things either continue to grow, change, morph, or adapt...

     ...or they die.


We humans, as living beings, are the same way...

     whether we're talking about our bodies, or relationship with God, our connections with people, or work life, or our civic reality.

All must change & grow, or diminish & die.


What areas f our lives have we let grow dormant, stale, or non-productive?

Where are we allowing a maintenance mode rob us of really living?

Because no matter what area(s) we've allow it to happen, if we're not growing in it, we're dying.

There are no other options.