Our Cardinal Friend
Proverbs 4:20-27 (NIV)
My son pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to the those who find them
and health to a man’s whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
There is a wealth of good health in this portion of scripture. This is advice given to a young man, but it can be applied to any one of us. First he tells his son to really pay attention and remember what he is about to say as it is very important. We should do the same. He says to keep these words in our hearts. The wisdom of these Words make a man’s whole body healthy. They are life to him.
When the Bible speaks of the heart it is speaking of the center of the human spirit, from which springs forth our emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and actions. If we store up good things in our hearts, our words and actions will flow forth with good things.
He says, “above all else,” or most important…guard your heart, because our life springs forth from it. The heart “is the wellspring of life.” All these things flow out of it as an overflowing water well springs forth water.
Then he tells us some things we need to do to achieve this good health.
1. We need to watch how we talk. How we talk reflects what we’ve been thinking about. It also shows what is at our core. Christians are not to talk trash as the world does. It is very interesting, but if you listen closely while someone talks you can pretty much discover their relationship to God.
Matthew 12:34 “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
2. We need to be careful what we look at. Are the movies we watch honorable to the Lord? What about the T.V. programs we watch? Would we be comfortable if the Lord Jesus Christ was sitting right there with us? There are many examples such as magazines, Internet, and even watching other people that we can include here.
3. We need to take heed to where we walk. We are not to swerve to the left or to the right in order to keep us from walking into evil behavior. Are you mindful of where you hang out and if it is pleasing to God? Sometimes we need to avoid certain places and friends so that we won’t be tempted.
4. We need to watch our thoughts also. Our minds are fragile and we must protect them. Are you aware of what you think about most of the time?
(Philippians 4:8) Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
These are the things we should be thinking about. You can examine your thoughts against the above scripture. If they are out of line you can pray and ask the Lord to bring your thoughts where they should be.
Attaining to these things is not automatic or even easy. But, If you make a serious effort the Lord will help you and then you too can have a healthy and happy life.
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