Proverbs 17-Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post.

"The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues." That's Proverbs 17:27/28. 

If you go back a few devotionals/podcasts, you will remember me saying that a few years ago my mouth didn’t help me as much as it could have, because I didn't know when to shut it. Back then I used to talk just to talk instead of talking if and when I had something to say. 

There was a commercial in the 70's and 80's that said, "when EF Hutton talks, people listen." It was because EF Hutton only spoke wisdom and when he spoke everybody stopped in their tracks (you can Youtube  the video). EF Hutton was a securities, brokerage, and insurance company. After that very successful commercial aired, everyone started quoting it. 'EF Hutton this and EF Hutton that.' Today we may hear a certain generation of people who still reference EF Hutton when making a point about some type of "infinite" knowledge, understanding, or wisdom. The commercial was that effective.

That's how it should be with us, right? When we speak, people should stop in their tracks and wait to hear what we have to say. Wouldn't it be nice to operate like that? Why can't we? We can in fact if we will just study to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15) and speak when spoken to. I had to learn that through the school of hard-knocks and guess what? I'm still learning. 

Anyway, Proverbs 17:27/28 speaks to that as it says, "The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues."