By Proverbs 9:6 “Leave inexperience behind, and you will live; pursue the way of understanding.”
Inexperience has the idea of being “foolish” and “open-minded.” I think it is interesting that our society thinks it a virtue to be open-minded, yet our Lord tells us that we must leave open-mindedness behind. “Understanding” on the other hand has the idea of “closing the mind on truth.” I think it was Chesterton who said that an open mind is meant to close on truth. To understand anything is to picture yourself standing underneath an idea and separating it into categories of true/false, wise/foolish, good/bad. Then “leaving open-mindedness behind” reminds us that after we do our separating, we must put into practice what we have now understood. Not only that but we must pursue this corse of life with all things. “Pursue the way of understanding.”
Leading Family Devotions 