Proverbs 23:1-35
Saturday, 30 April 2022
“My son if your heart is wise then my heart will be glad.” -Proverbs 23:15
Godly parents long to see their children walk in the wisdom of God. When we see them making wise choices in life, as they say: “Yes to God and No to the world,” we are elated. Don’t you think our Heavenly Father is looking out for the same in each of us?
How are we to make these right moves in our lives, making our Maker glad? Well the writer is giving us the answer to this question: A Wise heart son/daughter, a wise heart! You might read this and say, “I do have a wise heart.” But ask yourselves the questions given below; if your answers match with what the Lord says in His Word, you are truly wise and you are sure to make your Heavenly Father proud. If not, may the word of God enable you to align your life to what He has to say.
Question 1: What drives your heart to perform?
Every morning as you wake up what motivates you to do the tasks before you for the day? Is it to prove yourself or Are you trying to compete with someone or are you doing it so that Jesus will be glorified in and through your life? Proverbs 23:17[The MSG] says “Don't for a minute envy careless rebels; soak yourself in the Fear-of-God – Very often if we get down to the root of everything we do or say, there is a hidden selfish motive. Here’s a gentle exhortation from Solomon, he tells us to be captivated by the greatness and awesomeness of God. This is to be your catalyst to function each day. Colossians 3:17 says: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Question 2: What diverts your heart from a true course?
"Keep your heart on the right path."(V.19) Here Solomon warns us of the kind of company we keep. Two kinds of people he says we need to avoid 1. People who drink too much 2. People who eat too much. They are the kind who focus on earthly things. We are living in a time of ‘party culture’ where food, drink and free living is an accepted lifestyle. Many in this generation have been led away from the truth because of this culture. They begin, thinking they can stand up under this temptation and will not fall into sin. But little do they realize when they lose their way by the influence of bad company. 1Corinthians15:33 says, "Do not be misled, bad company destroys good character." How do we find our way back?— By getting back to the Scriptures. Jesus says in Matt.4:4: “Man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Question 3: What distracts your heart from seeing Jesus?
The fruit caught Eve’s eye and then she lost sight of God. V. 26 says, “Let your eyes keep to my ways.” Whatever has caught your eyes will rule your heart. Life everywhere is full of distractions that block out God. We may pursue riches, relationships or revelry. But you will soon find out that nothing can satisfy us. The writer knowing this tug, encourages us to “give our hearts to God!” If we have done so, then we would hold all earthly things loosely and nothing can distract us from following our Creator, thus making Him glad.
Make a decision to make your Maker glad by living according to His Word.
To Meditate: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God…” (1Corinthians 1:30)