Proverbs 4

~~Reading this Psalm this morning I was struck by the fact that God gives us specific instructions concerning our responsibilities to seek out His wisdom, wisdom He freely gives us but only when we seek it.  With our free will, one of the gifts God gave us, we must desire, seek and pursue wisdom, and He will gladly lavish it upon us.  Glory!!~~

¹

Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,

And give attention that you may gain understanding,

~~We are responsible to listen and give attention. He will help us understand.~~

²

For I give you sound teaching;

Do not abandon my instruction.

~~God gives sound teaching (we cannot go wrong with this teaching)~~

~~We are responsible to heed and follow this instruction.~~

³

When I was a son to my father,

Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

⁴

Then he taught me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

Keep my commandments and live;

~~We are responsible to hold fast to God’s words and keep His commandments (be obedient to what He tells us to do and do it), and He will give us a full and abundant life!~~

⁵

Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

~~We are responsible to seek wisdom and understanding and not ever turn away from God’s word.~~

⁶

“Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;

Love her, and she will watch over you.

~~If we keep focused on the wisdom God gives us, that wisdom will guard us always.~~

~~If we love wisdom and love God, His wisdom will watch over us always.~~

⁷

“The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

~~The first wise thing we learn is that we need to seek wisdom, and by doing so we will understand what He is teaching us.~~

⁸

“Prize her, and she will exalt you;

She will honor you if you embrace her.

~~When we prize wisdom above all other things, that wisdom will place us in high esteem with God, but we must seek and embrace it always.~~

⁹

“She will place on your head a garland of grace;

She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

~~Through wisdom we find grace and beauty.~~

¹⁰

Hear, my son, and accept my sayings

And the years of your life will be many.

~~Walking in God’s wisdom will give us long life!~~

¹¹

I have directed you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in upright paths.

~~God is the source of our wisdom and the one who directs our steps in life.~~

¹²

When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;

And if you run, you will not stumble.

~~God will make our life productive and prosperous.~~

¹³

Take hold of instruction; do not let go.

Guard her, for she is your life.

~~We are responsible to hold God’s instruction high in our life and never let go.~~

¹⁴

Do not enter the path of the wicked

And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

~~We are responsible to refrain from following wicked ways and evil men.~~

¹⁵

Avoid it, do not pass by it;

Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶

For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;

And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷

For they eat the bread of wickedness

And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

~~Our days will increase with calm and brightness.~~

¹⁹

The way of the wicked is like darkness;

They do not know over what they stumble.

²⁰

My son, give attention to my words;

Incline your ear to my sayings.

~~We are responsible to listen to God by reading His word and pay attention to what He says.~~

²¹

Do not let them depart from your sight;

Keep them in the midst of your heart.

~~We are responsible to keep His words always in our heart, thinking about them all day long.~~

²²

For they are life to those who find them

And health to all their body.

~~His words will give us life and health in our bodies.~~

²³

Watch over your heart with all diligence,

For from it flow the springs of life.

~~We are responsible to guard our hearts.~~

²⁴

Put away from you a deceitful mouth

And put devious speech far from you.

~~We are responsible to control our speech.~~

²⁵

Let your eyes look directly ahead

And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

~~We are responsible to keep looking to Him and not looking back at past mistakes or looking to the world for answers.~~

²⁶

Watch the path of your feet

And all your ways will be established.

~~We are responsible to be careful where we go and what we do.~~

²⁷

Do not turn to the right nor to the left;

Turn your foot from evil.

~~We are responsible to follow the straight and narrow path of life and to stay away from evil things.~~

 

 ~~We serve a loving, gracious God, but we must never forget our responsibilities to serve Him with our whole heart, seek Him always, and obey the things He tells us to do.  We cannot live our life however we want and still expect Him to bless us and let us spend eternity in Heaven unless we do our part, and that starts with surrendering our life to Jesus as Lord!  Make sure you are right with Him today, and seek always to serve Him and follow His instructions for your life.  Seek wisdom and you will find it!  He is faithful.~~