One of the
things that I like so much about the Book of Proverbs is the ability of the
wisest man who ever lived,(I believe, apart from Christ), to give instructions
that can apply to everyone and anyone in spite of their age and time of
existence.
In the Book
of Proverbs chapter 4 generally and especially verses 20-27, we can read the
most profound instructions from a father to his son, on how to have a focused
and thereby a successful life.
Paying attention to
the word of God
In verse
20-22(AMP) of the Book of Proverbs, we read as follows:
“20 My son attend to my words;
consent and submit to my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from your
sight; keep them in the center of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who
find them, and healing to all their flesh”.
These three
verses of scripture bring out what I will call-the what, where, and the why, of
the word of God.
Concerning
the what, the wise man by the Holy Spirit tells you and I how precious the most
important commodity-ever is. Why do I call it a commodity, because the Bible
says-Buy the truth and sell it not!
And so He
instructs us to go for the most important thing and pay attention to it and
hear it all the time.
Concerning
the where of the word of God, He tells us to store it in our hearts or spirits.
The human spirit is the Centre of man, and the word of God is the raw material
for building up the human spirit. In the Book of Acts, we read, Acts chapter 20
and verse 32:
“32 And now brethren: I
commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up
and to give you an inheritance amongst them who are sanctified”.
So it takes
the word stored in your spirit, to build you up, but it also takes the word to
renew your mind. The Bible tells us in the Book of Romans chapter 12 and verses
1-2, that if your mind is not renewed, you will not know the different phases
or types of the will of God.
Lastly on
the instructions concerning the word, let us look at the why of the word of God:
verse 22 of the same scriptures tells us that the word of God gives life to
those who find it, and is medicine to all their flesh.
What does He
mean by the word of God giving life to those who find it? The word of God, is
anointed, the word of God carries creative and healing power. If the word of
God has the ability to create life, it sure has the ability to sustain life.
The Bible
tells us in the Book of John chapter 1 that the word of God was here right from
the beginning, and all things were made by him, without him was not anything
made that was made.
Jesus went
on and said, “The words that I speak to
you they are spirit and they are life”!
Therefore,
it is easy to see that the word of God is the giver and sustainer of all life!
Guarding your heart or
spirit against the interference of negative influences.
Again in the
next verse, which is verse 23, we read another very important instruction as
follows:
“23 Keep and guard your heart with
all vigilance, and above all that you guard, for out it flow the springs of
life”.
This
scripture is very important, the heart here refers to your spirit, and your
mind is the doorway to your spirit. Therefore whatever goes on in your mind,
affects your spirit because it will eventually find its way into that place if
care is not taken.
The mind is
the battleground; devils are able to insert things into your mind, if you let
them. They can suggest for you to go and sleep with someone not your spouse,
and if you are not careful, you will stomach it. They can tell you that you
will never be healed because God does not love you, and you will believe it.
These days, we are told that there are mind reading satellites, and occultism
has extended to the mind and is now wreaking havoc in many places.
Occult mind
readers are able to search out secrets and can harm you if you not grounded in
the word of God, based on the apparently true things that they can fling out
from your mind.
Avoiding the evil
tongues
As you
continue to read, He continues to instruct via the wise man in chapter4 and
verse 24:
“24 Put away from you false and
dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk, put far from you”.
I love the
way the King James Version of the Bible wrote this part, it tells you to put
away from you, the froward mouth and to stay away from perverse speech.
Now putting
the two scriptures together, it means to put away from you, in terms of either
you speaking falsely or in a dishonest manner, or you hearing it from somebody
else.
It equally means
that we should not allow those who speak foul and immoral language or talk to
hang around us speaking vile and foul things that will eventually find their
way into your heart or mine, and corrupt us or corrupt the anointing inside us.
The necessity: why you
ought to be focused, persistent and consistent.
The last
three verses from the eight verses of scripture mentioned above, lay emphasis
on why you and I should be focused in all that we do, let us look at them
(25-27):
“25 Let your eyes look right on [with
fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you.
26 Consider well the path of your
feet, and let your ways be established and ordered aright.
27 Turn not aside to the right hand
or to the left; remove your foot from evil”.
In life
there are many ways that the devil strives to distract us. The enemy comes from
or through our friends, as well as through our enemies, to throw things at us.
He never gives up on this. If you have never been fought left and right by the
wicked, in an effort to push you off from your divine destiny and purpose, you
will never know what am talking about.
If you have
not yet encountered people whom what they have can never be enough for them,
what things they have achieved in their lives are never enough for them, and
the devil tells them that unless they take away the one God gave you, they are
nothing. These are people some of who are in our churches, but they cannot
recognize the voice of the devil, neither can they discern that they are
deceived and going to hell because of their folly, are those you and I need to
be very careful with.
You and I
need to be careful how we let the devil talk to us or to our destiny through
them, because it matters who you listen to and respond to.
In another
important scripture, the wise man says to us: When sinners entice you, consent
thou not, that is in Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 10:
“1 My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not”KJV.
It is very
easy to give in to peer pressure especially for children, and also for women
who want to fit in amongst their friends. It is a common fact today that there
are women who have gotten involved in all manner of sexual immorality, just so
that they can be hailed or rated highly among their unbelieving friends. These
were people who once professed Jesus Christ as their Lord.
In the same
vein, some men who claim to be Christians are visiting shamans and spiritualist
to be rich, or have even joined cults. These things are evidence that a man or
a woman’s life is not focused or secure in the God.
As a result
of this spiritual inattentiveness, failure and defeat are inevitable because a
double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Finally, let
us remember to continually give ourselves wholly to the word of God as Paul
instructed Timothy, to always study and meditate on the word of God. If we can
only continue to do this, it won’t be long before our profiting from the word,
will become evident to all!
