Proverbs 4

PROVERBS 4

Here again, we read of the importance of acquiring the wisdom and understanding that comes from God.

"Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding."
(vs 7)

When these are a part of us, they help us to see and know the ways of the Lord.

"When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,
And when you run, you will not stumble.
Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life."
(vs 12-13)

Then we will be able to discern good and evil. And the Holy Spirit, through Solomon, exhorts us to heed the Truths which are revealed to us as we grow in the wisdom of God. We are encouraged to walk in His ways, which lead to Life.

"Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on."
(vs 14-15)

"Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil."
(vs 25-27)

Both the Old and New Testaments have much to say about remaining on the Path. It is our choices, shown by our actions and deeds that determines whether we are on the paths that lead to destruction or on the Path that leads to Life. The Apostle Paul writes often about ’walking worthy’ of the Lord once we have come to know Him (Eph 4:1, Col 1:10, 1 Thess 2:12).

We remember that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, and told them to do the same. When He declared that "He who is washed needs only to wash his feet." (John 13:10), I believe that He was charging them to keep themselves clean by walking according to His commands. The Word that Jesus had already spoken to them had washed them and made them clean (John 15:3). Yet He tells us several times in the same discourse that we need to "abide" or "remain" in Him. "If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commands and remain in His love." (John 15:10). To remain in Christ, we must, as the Proverb states, "ponder the path of our feet", "Turn not to the right or the left", and keep our "eyes looking straight ahead".

We are told of those that are in the army of the Lord, to which we are called, that -
"They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks."
- Joel 2:7b-8


As Christians living in the 21st century, we look to the promise of the coming Kingdom. Ancient Israel looked to entering the Promised Land. All the promises to them, as they prepared to enter into the promised land, were given on the condition of their obedience. Christians today look for the promise of the coming Kingdom....

"The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.

"The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.

"The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

"The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them."
- Deut 5:9-14

The Lord promised all these wondrous things would come to pass IF they "walked in His ways", IF they "listened to His commandments." Brothers & sisters, we know from the Scripture, and from history, that sadly, God’s people did turn aside to serve other gods, with disastrous consequences. And of that, Paul writes -

"Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." - 1 Cor 10:11-12


"My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh."
(vs 20-22)

May we, indeed, give attention to the Word on a daily basis. May we hold His Truth, and His promises, close to our heart. And may we seek for Him, and desire the wisdom that comes only from Him, always.

God bless you & guide you,

Michael


Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
(vs 23)