Directions through the Word

'My son, give attention to my words"    Proverbs 4:20-27   NKJV 

Imagine that you are sitting in on a university lesson for one session and you are preparing to write an essay on a certain subject. It is not as easy as you would think. Firstly, you would have to:

GIVE ATTENTION   In other words you would have to pay attention to what the tutor is teaching and take accurate notes. This would mean that you would have to concentrate in order to be able to write about the why's and where for's. 

LISTEN   There would be a need to listen carefully in order that what you writing is correct. You would need to reference who had said what you have written and why. In addition to this, you would need to give a critical analysis about your text, giving at least another person who disagrees with this theory you have written and again, why. This could include yourself - how would this make a difference in your life or not at all. This is only for starters, there would be much more criteria in order to make a good argument that comes to a great conclusion. 

I hope you can see, just how important the art of listening is. In our text above, Solomon gives some great reasons why paying attention to detail is so important. It is a skill that we should all learn and it needs to be ongoing. God's word is active - alive, and each time we look at it, something different comes out of it. He tells us to keep our heart with all diligence v23. in other words guard it, because it is life to us. It is also a vital reference point for the issues of life. Out of our heart come good or bad things so, we need to keep it in good shape and, once again, this is where God's word comes into operation. Our heart can easily be poisoned if we are not careful. Wrong words from wrong sources can contaminate this reference point filling it with data that can spill out bad fruit.

Our walk with God is very dependent on what we put into this reference point, therefore, we should always give it care and attention. It dictates what we think and speak, what we look at and how we process this in our minds. It also determines where our feet take us. We are in charge of it not the other way around.

CONCLUSION   There is a need to spend time with the one who is teaching us - Jesus and to do this, our time must be His. We need to read His word; we need to make accurate notes of what He says and we need to put it into action. It is a learning process that will take us all of our lives. So we better get started now.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com  

If you would like to contact me, grahame.howard@hotmail.co.uk

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

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