Pro 4:20-23 - My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
One of the primary things we see in this opening verse is that God is always, first and foremost, concerned about our relationship. ‘My son’. Just think about the fact that God affirms us as His sons; He acknowledges that He is our Father. Any parent immediately understands that their son, particularly, a young son, is entirely their responsibility. As a parent we are constantly thinking of our children; we are constantly planning for their future; we are constantly aware of where they are at and what influences are coming into their young minds. We are vigilant and diligent about their safety, their education, and their well-being. Jesus said that if we as fathers know how to give good things to our children, how much more does our Heavenly Father?
We probably know some very good fathers who live among us. They may be hard-working and loyal; they may be generous and loving; or, they may be strong and protective. However good they might be, the Heavenly Father is infinitely greater. He desires the absolute best for us. He wants us to be blessed and healthy in every way. He has an unlimited heart of goodness toward us. One prominent theologian has said that the only limit to God’s goodness is our capacity to receive it. If only we could open our hearts a little wider and embrace our Father’s perfect love for us. ‘My son’. It’s as if God is saying, ‘You are mine. I take responsibility for you. I am your Provider. I am your answer. You belong to me. I am your personal Physician’.
We are exhorted to give our attention to God’s words. Whatever has our attention has our focus and whatever has our focus, has our time, our heart and our energy. If we are giving the Word of God our attention then we are giving it our interest and our concentration. Everything in life is attempting to get our attention and something will inevitably have it. God says we are to ensure that His Word has our complete attention. If I am a student in the classroom and the teacher tells me to pay attention then that means I am going to have to listen intently to what is being said. I do not have to come up with my own solution to life’s challenges; I just simply have to be alert and listen for God’s solution.
There are many words that compete for our attention but it is the words of God which are to be prominent in our thinking and in our lives. ‘My words’. Someone has once said that words are containers; they carry whatever is put into them. Man’s words carry fear and insecurity; they carry doubt and discouragement; they carry hopelessness and despair. God’s words, however, carry faith and security; they carry confidence and encouragement; they carry hope and expectation; indeed, they carry healing.
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to believe all the negative things that could happen? We have been raised in a culture of fearful unbelief. Our schools do not promote faith in God and our government certainly does not as well. We have been trained to accept whatever comes our way without considering what the Word of God has to say. ‘Incline your ear’. An inclination is a leaning toward something and if we are already leaning toward it then it only takes a little push to go all the way over. If we are inclining our ear then, half the battle is already won. What do we hear all day long? A quick listen to the news on the radio tells us that it is definitely not good news. What am I inclining my ear to? God says we are to give our attention to His words and a big part of that is to consistently hear the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith does not necessarily come by reading silently, or by praying. No! Faith, which is confidence in God, comes by opening up our ears and listening intently to the Word. Years ago I read something that D. L. Moody wrote, ‘…I prayed for faith and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning, but faith did not come. One day [I read Rom.10:17 and] realized that I had closed my Bible and prayed for faith, but now I open my Bible and begin to read and my faith has been growing ever since...’
Isn’t it true that things which God has said to us may be important at one time but they do not always stay in their place of priority? It is a sad reality that we naturally tend to neglect or forget crucial things. It takes intentional and purposeful steps to ensure that we do not lose what we have gained. ‘Let them not depart from your eyes’. The very fact that we are told to not let the words of God depart strongly infers that they will depart if we let them. One version says to not lose sight of His words. If something moves away from us we will eventually lose sight of it; we can only see so far. That is why we must stay close to the Word of God, and if we do, we will never lose sight of it. ‘Your eyes’. The eye is an amazing part of the body but the eye is simply a gate or, a door through which information comes. We don’t actually see with the eye; we see in our minds because of the image that the eye has projected there. That is why we hear the phrase, ‘I can see it in my mind’s eye’. We need to allow the Word of God to form the image of blessing and health in our mind.
If someone is a gate-keeper then that means they are to guard the gate; they decide who goes in and who goes out. ‘Keep them in the midst of your heart’. We are keepers of the precious Word. We are guardians of this treasure. To be an effective guardian or gate-keeper, we must always be aware that there are enemies trying to enter in and destroy who we are and what we have. On the other hand, we must also realize that there are allies who are trying to come in and help. We must be discerning and selective about what comes in through the eye-gate and the ear-gate.
The heart of a thing is the center of it; it is the hub around which all revolves. ‘My words, your heart’. God’s words must amalgamate with our heart in a similar way that the seed must unite with the ground. No matter how strong any one of us is, our heart does not have what it takes, in and of itself, to withstand the forces of disease; we are all in need of a greater and separate power. That power is God’s Word and when His Word gets rooted in our heart it will control and direct our life.
All that we have been told so far has told us what to do but now we are being told why. ‘They are life to those who find them, and health to all your flesh’. The benefit of the pursuit is the finding of life. Life is what everyone wants but not everyone wants to seek and pursue the Word of God until it dominates the heart. ‘Find them’. If we knew that there was a treasure buried in our backyard we would dig up every inch until we found it. The use of the word find means that this vital life and strength does not fall randomly on people. In fact, there is nothing random or impulsive about God; He gives us His Word with the instructions and laws contained within it. Then, as we follow those reliable laws, we find life. His words contain His life and His life is the source of our life. Life is organic and biological; it is a living entity if you will.
His words are life and health to the actual, physical flesh of those who find them. Apparently, the effect of this is not only spiritual. ‘Health to all their flesh’. The word translated health could also be translated medicine. So we could say God’s Word is medicine to all their flesh. Our Father is the Great Physician and He has medicine for all that ails us. If we went to the doctor and he prescribed medicine we would gladly follow all his instructions for taking it. If the Word of God is medicine then that implies several essential things. It must be taken according to the prescription, most likely at regular intervals. It must be absorbed into your system; it cannot stay in the bottle. It must have a time element connected to it; we cannot force it to work.
Everything about this section of Scripture emphasizes vigilance and diligence; watchfulness and faithfulness. ‘Keep your heart’. We are strongly exhorted to maintain the guard over our heart because our very life flows out of it from God back to us. As we give the Lord’s word our utmost attention and heed closely to what He says, absorbing His word into our hearts and keeping His thoughts within us, our inner man receives life. That life then emanates out into our flesh, thus driving away any sickness and disease. The key to receiving and then staying in a place of health is to guard our hearts. It is so easy to allow thoughts to come in that are not from our Father, therefore, we must continue to exercise diligence as the gate-keeper. Guard your heart. Protect your spirit. Shield your inner man. Do this above all else that you do.
Remember, it is your Father who loves you and has made provision for you. He longs to bring relief from needless suffering. He is a compassionate Father and He is your Father. You are His child. He is actively watching over His word to bring it to pass for you. He has a wise and loving Father’s plan for your life and disease and harm is not part of it. Listen to Him, focus on Him, yield to Him and the life that is in His words will spring up within you and impart strength and health to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment