Journal Prov 7 (all references are from the ESV unless noted otherwise; changes in punctuation are mine)
Scripture: “My son,
Keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you.
Keep my commandments and live. Keep my teaching as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom: “You are my sister”, and call insight your intimate friend…” Prov 7:1-4a
Observation: Again, with pounding the pursuit of wisdom and the cherishing of commandments by the Holy Spirit. A person might think that this is important somehow…
Analysis: The first part of Proverbs 7 is a pleading (of sorts) from the father to the son: Keep my words, make them important! If you find yourself going astray, pull back on the reins of your heart forcibly. Perhaps the metaphor in today’s culture is to reboot the operating system (again). Paul refers to this in Romans 12: “…but be transformed by the renewal (rebooting) of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God…” (Ro 12:2b)
The rest of Proverbs 7 is PG17 at the minimum. For many young (and old) men, this is the sex-capades fantasy, currently what the commercial media promotes—women seducing men instead of the other way around. Question: If a woman seduces a man, does it lessen the sin involved? Is that the way a man would rationalize the act? It is the way I have rationalized it in my past.
How then should a man (young or old, it matters not) keep his way pure? By guarding it according to God’s word. (Ps 119:9) Looks like Solomon was familiar with this Psalm, at least in principle.
There are two implicit messages in the above passage: 1) Fathers (blood or previous generations), make the embrace of the Word of God so important that you cannot keep from pointing to the path, the mountain that leads to the Kingdom of God; 2) Young men, seek out and be fierce about embracing the commandments of God.
Summary: Be fierce about the Word of God. Grow in being grounded; deepen the foundations of the Gospel in my soul.
Prayer: Father, thank you for my wife contributing to this today. You sent her to lead me into other paths of thought about you and the Gospel.
Help me to understand what I can further do to serve you and this local church.
Amen.
Ricky Two Shoes