“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil" (Proverbs 4:20-27).
I love this passage of scripture. God’s Word is life and health to us. If you’re going through anything in your physical body that is not life and health, God has given you the remedy to your pain. In all the trials of life, God has given us a way to escape them. His Word is the best instruction manual you will ever need.
Whenever Stephanie and I order new furniture from a store, we never select the option for it to come fully assembled. For the most part, everything we order is fairly easy to put together. If you’ve ever ordered a nightstand or entertainment center, you will always find the parts and screws needed to build your new furniture.
Also included is an instruction manual that tells you exactly how to assemble the object. Sometimes, when I lack patience, I try to speed through the building process. I’ll often skip through the instructions and try to figure it out myself.
More times than not, it leads to more frustration and mistakes, and I have to start over. Then I wish someone from the company was here to build it for me because now I’m tired and lazy. If I were to read the instructions, see how it is assembled, and leave it there for someone else to build, it would never be built. Most Christians do this with God’s Word. They have this incredible instruction manual on how to be victorious in life, but then they expect God to do all the work for them
Have you ever heard someone say, “Jesus, take the wheel?” I’m sure you are singing the lyrics to the popular Carrie Underwood song in your head. This is because the vast majority of Christians think that God is in control of everything. These verses in Proverbs clearly state something different.
Jesus isn’t taking anyone’s wheel. Jesus purchased this vehicle called "Life" for us and wants us to drive it. Jesus is sitting in the passenger seat instructing us on where to go, which turn to make, how fast to drive, and so on. He isn’t the one driving the car while we sit back and enjoy the scenery and take occasional naps on the way to the destination. Notice how this proverb is written.
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.”
These are instructions for us to follow. All of these things are our responsibility in life. One of the main reasons Christians aren’t living in divine health and life is that they aren’t taking the responsibility to attend to His words and keep them in their hearts. They go to church once a week, hear a short message, and then go back out into the world and live their lives the way they want to.
But you're different–or at least trying to be different. You’re not content with life right now. You’re looking for more! Let me encourage you that God's Word is the best place to find it. This post that you’re reading is only a tool for you to use. If you aren’t in the Word, this tool won’t do you any good. What good is a garage full of tools without a car in it to work on, a screwdriver without any screws, or a hammer with no nails? Tools are great, but they’re useless without knowing what they are meant for. Reading books about God is great, but without reading the Word, those books are useless.
God wants the absolute best for you, but you must take responsibility and listen to what the Word says.
“But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:22-25).
When you just read God’s Word without doing anything about what you read, you’re deceiving yourself. This is why James also says, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). We aren’t doing all of these “works” for God to bless us more, to get God to heal us, to have a right standing with God, or anything else for that matter. The only reason why these “works” need to be done is that we need to walk the walk and talk the talk.
If you gave your life to Christ, you need to show it through your actions. If you believe that in God’s Word, there is life to those who find it and health to their flesh, then show it through your actions. Listening and obeying God’s Word because you actually believe what it will produce is different than following the commandments of the Word because you have to. One heart is open and receptive towards God, and the other is closed off.
The proverb that we first read isn’t telling you a list of commands you need to do in order for God to grant you life and health; it’s really saying that if you need life and health, do these things, and you’ll find them. If someone goes to the doctor’s office and needs healing, the doctor is going to prescribe them a prescription medicine with instructions on how to use it, when to use it, and what they should expect when they use the medicine correctly.
How many people do you know who go to the doctor and complain that the doctor tells them they have to follow rules and regulations? I’m sure most people are ready to get their medicine as fast as possible to get better. For some reason, people see God’s Word as a list of laws of do’s and don’ts instead of viewing it as a prescription from The Great Physician.
Do you need healing? Quote verses on healing every day, ten times a day, until faith comes. If symptoms worsen, double the dosage. Do you need money? Quote verses on provisions every day, ten times a day, until faith comes. You should trust a prescription from The Great Physician more than you trust a prescription from a regular, human, carnal doctor. Amen? The antidote to your problems in life is found in His Word!
If you emphasize certain words in this proverb, you can see it from a new perspective.
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.”
This is a father talking to a son. I want you to see this as God, your Heavenly Father, talking to you, His son or daughter. His words and His sayings are life and health to your flesh. If He needs to identify that His words are important, this means that there are others who are speaking at the same time.
Whenever God is speaking to you, just know that the enemy will also try to grab your attention. You need to know how to discern the two from each other. If God wants you to listen to His words because they produce life and health, the enemy’s words produce death and destruction. The enemy is always trying to distract you from what you are called to do in this life. If God is calling you to do something great, Satan is trying to distract you from hearing that calling.
Keep track of what and who you're listening to. Are the words you are hearing producing life and health, or are they producing fear and worry? Listen to His words, His sayings. I promise you that in the end, they will produce life and health to all of your flesh.
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