In chapters 1-9 of Proverbs, we hear the words “My son,” over and over. Solomon is going after his son, repeatedly telling him this one thing: get wisdom.

Our verse for the day is Proverbs 7:2, which says, “Keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye.”If you read this at face value, you might think that God is speaking, but this is actually Solomon speaking to his son.

I recently re-watched an excellent video that helps break down the book of Proverbs (you should check it out at thebibleproject.com!). Chapter 7, verse 1 says, “My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you.” Then today’s verse, verse 2: “keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye.” Verse 3 continues: “bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” Solomon really wants his son to listen to what he has to say, instead of being hard-headed.

Solomon was a good person to listen to because 1) God made him the wisest man alive, so he had good things to share, and 2) he had lived life, he had experience. Many of the mistakes I’ve made in life came about because I chose not to listen to the advice of those who lived before me. I chose not to listen to the wisdom of my mother and other adults who had tried to warn me.

Solomon wants his son to understand that his advice will help him to live well and choose well.Have you ever heard this saying before? “God gave us two ears, two eyes, and one mouth. Therefore, we should look and listen twice as much as we talk.” But somehow we just keep talking. Instead, we should learn to listen.

The second part of the verse tells us to keep wisdom “as the apple of [our] eye.” We should keep it as our focal point. We should continuously seek and go after wisdom. I often didn’t listen, but I pray that my son chooses to listen to wisdom much earlier than I did.

There are people that God has placed in your life that want you to get wisdom, and to understand important things about life. Won’t you listen? When I teach assemblies at schools, I tell kids to remember to carry their “invisible backpacks” with them always, where they can store the wisdom they get from people and carry it with them so they have it when they need it. You might not always like or understand the wisdom you hear, but take it with you anyway, so you have it when you need it.

Continue reading the rest of Proverbs 7 to check out more of what Solomon had to say, and heed his advice to his son: learn to listen to wisdom.