Journal Proverbs 23 (all references are from the ESV; changes in punctuation are mine)
Scripture: “My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right. Let not your heart envy sinners but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day…
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways…” excerpts from Prov 23:15-17, and v26
Observation: What makes the Father glad? It is when His children learn wisdom; their heart is His and their eyes are upon His ways. Why? So that His ways are observed (imitated) by His children.
Analysis: Language can get in the way of understanding.
Take the phrase above: “…and let your eyes observe My ways…” That doesn’t mean, “Oh look! See what God is doing…” as if the act of seeing is all there is to observing. In this case, “to observe” means to imitate, to do, to embrace as something worthy to copy.
I forget that. I can read the words and let them flow right over me, appreciating their beauty and depth….and then close the book, put it back on the shelf and turn on the TV.
I don’t think about what I read and more importantly, what it means…and really: what am I going to do about it?
Seriously, how easy is it to consider the Scriptures for somebody else? To read the Word and say to myself “that was then, this is now.” When do I say, “I gotta do something about what I just read…” and pick up a pencil, grab a piece of paper and start making a plan?
More than likely I don’t consider, really consider the Scripture at all.
That little phrase I use (“man in the mirror”) is a tool. It is meant to take what I read and look myself in the eye, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and check my soul.
Being transformed into the image of the Son (Rom 8:29) is not a game that is played in total relaxation. Being changed is not a process of osmosis. That has taken so long to understand it isn’t funny. I wish that someone would have given me the skinny on it when I was first walking in the Lord.
“Son. Give me your heart. I will care for it in ways that are unimaginable. Consider Me and observe my Ways all your days.”
Prayer: Father, more and more I want to walk in Your ways. It is more than mere obedience; it is being transformed so that wisdom is the light of my life. AMEN