Theme of the Week: Let’s Begin! Wisdom that Works
Bible Verse: My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Proverbs 3:1-2 ESV
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3:1-8
What is the Father saying? “Pay attention. Pay attention to me. You’re going to pay attention to something. But only my teaching will lead you into shalom, wholeness, peace.” God is not saying we have to be smart. In fact, if we are wise in our own eyes, that is a problem (v. 7). It is okay to be incompetent. But we do have to pay attention to his gospel and its implications—his teaching and his commandments.
In all the noise of our culture, what are you listening to? And is it working for you? Or is it a mirage, leading you on with false promises, always just out of reach? Mark Rutherford, in his novel The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane, says: “If your religion doesn’t help you, it is no religion for you; you had better be without it.”1
Whatever you are paying attention to—is it leading you into peace? Be honest about that. If it is not helping you, there is a reason.
Look more closely at that. Drill down there. Is it the Father’s teaching you are paying attention to, or are you paying more attention to some popular but defunct theory that cannot possibly work out?
In the second line of verse 1, the word “keep” means more than “obey”; it means “guard, maintain vigilance.” “Let your heart guard my commandments.” Your heart is your security system. And every day thieves are trying to rob you of length of days and years of life and peace.
Whatever that scenario is, if Christ is not the life-giving center, your heart has already been penetrated by a life-robbing idol. There is a reason why the sage is telling us to stay alert. When we forget Christ, we are not released into freedom; we submit to false teachings that fill our lives with regret.
1 Mark Rutherford, The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane, New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1929, p.29
Taken from Proverbs: Wisdom That Works by Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., © 2012. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, crossway.org.
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