Page 21 - Living Light 88

Friday March 21 - The whole body of life
(My words) are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole
body. Proverbs 4:22
Yesterday it was the mouth. But other parts of the body get their mention too in the last section of our chapter, because God’s wisdom is for our life, our whole being – so we need to keep it within our heart (v 21) or ‘fixed in our mind’ as one version says.
Your ears come first in the list, though your eyes can’t see the word in most translations! But ‘incline your ear to my sayings’ is the original wording of the second part of verse 20. The speakers of the language in Argentina into which I helped translate Scripture have an expression ‘hach’ote thate’ which means ‘propel your ear at’ – make sure you listen attentively! God wants us to propel our ears towards his wisdom!
Later it’s the turn of your eyes (v 25). They must look straight ahead, down the barrel of God’s teaching, ‘fixing your gaze directly before you.’ We’re reminded of the command to ‘fix our eyes upon Jesus’ (Hebrews 12:2). If you keep looking straight into God’s wise teaching, you can’t help but see Jesus there – the embodiment of wisdom, the embodiment of God, calling us forward toward life’s finishing line and into his welcoming arms.
And then the feet (v 26). ‘Mark out the path that your feet must take’ says one version, ‘and your ways will be secure.’ Mark it, following God’s wisdom here in the Bible. So: ears, mouth, eyes, feet...
Help me, Father, to keep my ears, mouth, eyes and feet ‘in your word’ and to employ them in your service. Amen.
Saturday March 22 - Living it out
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23
Yesterday we looked at parts of the body in the final section of Proverbs 4. But one we held back: the heart, the centre of our being. We’re urged to guard it by keeping our Father’s words within it (vv 20-21). It’s the wellspring or source of life, and ‘affects everything you do’, as one version says.
A friend once described study as his ‘forte’ – and I could probably say the same, loving learning and knowledge. But knowledge is no good and does no good if it’s just there in the head. Wisdom is another matter entirely, because the heart is involved. True wisdom, God’s wisdom, is revealed throughout the Bible, and when we get to the gospels we see it lived out in Jesus, whom Paul calls ‘the wisdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:24). Jesus knew the Scriptures in his head and he lived them from the heart.
Someone has said that ‘without wisdom, knowledge is like water in the sand’ – it dribbles uselessly away. But knowledge applied by a heart trained in God’s wisdom means that we live out what we believe and know. We embed it into our living.
“How that person knows the Bible!” we sometimes hear. But the proof of the Christian pudding is not just in learning or even teaching Bible knowledge, but in living out those truths and being living witnesses for Jesus Christ. That’s why this publication is called ‘Living Light’.
Father God, please help me to be a living light for you and for others. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
19