New Affections, New Appetites (Proverbs 18:15)
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Proverbs 18:15
An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Aristotle’s ethics taught that one must be virtuous to become virtuous. Many others throughout history have taught that one must be wise to become wise, and have knowledge in order to strive after it, to increase it.
In other words, even the world’s wisest whisper what Scripture shouts: God is the fountainhead of all virtue, all wisdom, all knowledge – and we are merely beggars at His door.
How is that relevant to the verse? Well, we’ve been looking at what Proverbs has to say about desire the past few days, and today’s verse shows us something important:
It reveals that new affections create new appetites.
Yesterday we said that Jesus gives us new desires, and today that statement is given more life. A heart that has been renewed by Christ – a heart that once echoed hollow and hard, now made tender and teachable – is an intelligent heart that acquires knowledge. Because they’ve tasted and seen the Lord is good, they desire more and more of Him. They want to know more of who He is through the reading of His Word, prayer, worship – even in the quiet hours when no one is watching.
They desire those things because their affections have changed. Their ears have become wise in Christ – no longer charmed by the static of the world, but tuned to the whispers of heaven. The wise man’s ears have been tuned to the frequency of eternity. He no longer craves the noise of earth – he cups his hand to hear the whisper of the Word.
New birth brings new tastes – and the soul that once snacked on shadows now hungers for glory.
The evidence of a new affection is new desires.
Every Christian knows firsthand what I’m talking about. You know what it’s like to have no appetite or desire for Jesus, for the Bible, for prayer, for anything related to the Lord God. But once He got a hold of your heart, you began to desire new things – holy things – to the point where your free time was spent listening to a sermon or praying instead of scrolling or doing something else you enjoy (like playing a sport).
This verse serves as a reminder for me of what the life of a Christian should look like. The change of affection brings new Christ-like desires. Reading it makes me reflect on my own desires and whether that’s true of me.
If Christ is my wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30), do I truly seek Him with all my being?
Given its and His value, I should! I should desire Christ and His presence, His wisdom above all things, and this verse makes me question if that’s true of me at the moment.
So is that true of you today? Has the Shepherd’s voice become the sweetest sound? Have your affections been rerouted heavenward?
For where your desires lie, there your devotion lives.
Let’s pray.
