Guard and Hide

(Pro 7:1 KJV)  My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

The translations tend to make this process one of external application and internal storage.  That is a good point but I am not sure it covers all the bases.  We have two verbs, “Keep” (8104) and “lay up” (treasure NASB) (6845).  Those are legitimate translations.  Let me suggest a couple of others:  Guard and hide.  These are both internal.

If we are going to live righteous lives then we must prepare our inner man.  Straight actions require a solid foundation of truth.  This is even more true today as we find we can’t believe most of what we hear.  One reason I attend the church I do is because the pastor speaks truth.  It comes from a high view of the Bible and an internalizing.

So?  It won’t happen over night.  Remember the nights you spent cramming for a test the next day.  It may have worked for the test but as soon as you turned it in the knowledge fled.  That is not the way an upright life is lived.  Make study a part of your worship.  Guard and hide. 

For Example

(Pro 6:26 KJV)  For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

As we look around we often would want to argue with the idea that sin ruins us financially.  All you need to do is look at the celebrities and politicians that are awash with affluence, or so it seems.  Beware of looking at the salient personalities of our world.  If you look at them you would also think that they represent the physical perfection we should strive for but wait until you see them without make-up and no photo-shopping.  Their money also does not guarantee that they will be satisfied with how things are going.

Take a moment and look at what they are going through in the gossip columns.  Would you really want to be Johnny Depp?  How about Elvis?  Would you really want children of the quality that most presidents experience?  You could make an unending list because there would always be names added to it.

So?  Count your blessings.  If that means you can live on your income then be glad.  It if means that your children are a source of satisfaction, rejoice.

World Changers

(Pro 5:20 KJV)  And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

One of the attractions of the Jewish religion had to be their view of marriage, sex and women.  In the previous verse and this one you have a good summary.  Enjoy within boundaries that involve righteousness and concern for the other person.  If you know much about the pagan world of the past you know that women did not have a lot of security beyond what was provided by the men they came in contact with.  There were noble ideas expressed.  There were heart warming examples of love and fidelity.  They were not reinforced by popular culture.

We are returning to those days.  The days of the sexual revolution and abortion on demand have made women a commodity to be used and cast aside.  Although the Christian church seems to be following our culture in the area of divorce and abortion the cultural leaders are much more casual about their serial marriages and killing of babies.  It is considered newsworthy when it is noted that a celebrity has been married for 40 years without cheating.  It always amazed me as a middle school teacher when I would tell kids I had been married 40 years their eyes got big and all they could say was, “Wow.”

So?  We have an example to set.  We have a standard to keep.  We have a Savior who gives us the power.  Be a world changer. 

Calibration

(Pro 4:21 KJV)  Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

We have an immediate direction here as well as one that should have been dealt with long ago.  Today I want to look at the task for today, daily focus.  We are used to the concept of calibration.  My kids gave me a droid a few years ago.  I have not done it justice.  One of the steps I learned was necessary dealt with calibration.  You needed to get everything pointing the right direction and at the right power setting for it to work.  If you joy is crashing, and I am sure there are some that enjoy that, then just turn it on and go for it.  

I want to get beyond crashing in my spiritual life.  I don’t want the theater that comes with a life of futility and frustration.  I want to know the joy of the Lord.  That means I need to calibrate on a daily basis.  Actually it is a constant need.

So?  It is why I finally decided to start my day focused on praise and thanksgiving.  It gets me pointed in the right direction. 

Disconnect Your Buttons

(Pro 3:30 KJV)  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

We wear our feelings on out sleeve.  We have thin skins.  We have buttons that can be pushed.  Admit it but don’t live with it.  The call for us is to rise above all that.  I think it is implied that there are times to “strive” (contend NASB) (7378) but the implication is overshadowed by the command.  

There is a attitude involved here.  We tend to look to hard and too long for justification for our response.  We are too willing to find a reason.  The spirit of this is to stop looking, shrug your shoulders and get on with life.

So?  Yes, you.  And of course, me.  This is not an expectation we have for the other guy but the standard God has for us.

Reboot

(Pro 2:5 KJV)  Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

I am finding today that I need to be reminded of the “fear” (3374) of the “Lord” (3068) [yhvh].  There are so many currents that can knock me off course.  I can find an excuse in almost anything.  Distraction is almost a spiritual gift.  This morning I had been disrupted to the point of petrification.  I worked myself back into motion and as soon as I started to write the catalyst for entropy hit again.  

What to do.  I guess I need to develop the automatic ability to reboot.  That sounds good but I have no more tendency to a reboot response than my computer does.  It needs to be a choice and it can only be developed by choosing.

So?  Time to man up and put the child aside.  I keep going believing that eventually God will either give me victory over the response or the power to get moving again.

Options

(Pro 1:3 KJV)  To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

Be aware that you are constantly being given “instruction” (4148).  You may not even be aware of it.  We might call it “indoctrination” or “brainwashing”.  It happens every time you turn on an electronic device or open printed material.  We are being conditioned on what looks good.  We are told what foods are really nutritional.  We are made to feel guilty about having a moral position.  

Beware.

The point of Proverbs is to prepare ourselves to decide what we want to learn.  We are responsible for our character.  Yes, our parents and family gave us a start, but there come a time when we begin to make decisions on our own.  

So?  Make sure that you have a standard to measure with.  The sliding scale of society will do nothing but lead you to disaster.  It can come in this life.  It will come in eternity.  Seek wisdom.