Math used to be one of my favorite subjects in school. It always made sense. 2+2 always equals 4. And once you learned addition, you learned subtraction, then multiplication, then division to understand the next “level” of math you always had to be proficient in the one before.

There came a time when I could not fully comprehend what I was supposed to learn, so my math skills kept falling behind the next school year. Why? Because I did not have the proper building blocks to be successful with the next level of math. I had failed to learn the basics, so I was not able to progress.

Walking in biblical wisdom is the same. We must learn the proper building blocks and constantly remember them.

Solomon writes in Proverbs 2:1, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments….”

Again in Proverbs 3:1, Solomon writes, “My son, do not forget my teaching but let your heart keep my commandments.”

Solomon writes the proper thing to do and encourages the reader to remember it and treasure it. We often remember what is most important to us. The reason I fell behind in math is that I cared more about baseball. I spent my evenings watching Atlanta Braves baseball. I knew the entire roster, and each player’s batting average, but I thought I knew enough about math to stop learning. I cared more about other things and eventually fell behind.

The more work we put into learning the building blocks, the better off we will be in the long run. If we want to progress, we must put in the work now if we’re going to finish strong.

How are you training to learn the building blocks of wisdom, and ultimately the building blocks of life?