Proverbs 4
John 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proverbs 4:23 \u201cGuard your heart with all diligence.\u201d This is more than just be careful what or whom you love. This takes us back to the theme a week or so ago. Be careful what you treasure; Be careful what you set your affections and thoughts on.\u201d DA Carson in his devotional \u201cFor the Love of God\u201d commented the following on Proverbs 4, \u201cWhat you set your mind and emotions on determines where you go and what you do.\u201d Sounds like what Paul Tripp has said, \u201cYour treasure will control your heart. And what controls your heart will control your behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Proverbs 4:24-26 Solomon precedes this verse with these thoughts, \u201cPut away perversity from your mouth, keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead.. Make level paths for your feet.\u201d Then he concludes by saying, \u201cBut above all, guard your heart. It is the source of everything..\u201d What comes out of our mouth, the things that catch our eyes, the path that directs our feet, are all influenced greatly by our heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2 Tim 2:4 Paul reminds Timothy that a soldier doesn\u2019t entangle himself with civilian pursuits. A soldier is singly focused on being the best that he can be. In order to do that, he knows he can\u2019t be distracted. If he is distracted, it could get him killed. In Hebrews 12:1 the author tells us to \u201clay aside every weight, AND the sin that easily besets us.\u201d Sin is not the only thing that hinders us and distracts us from being singly focused on \u201cLooking unto Jesus.\u201d That was Paul\u2019s concern for the Corinthians in 2 Cor 11:3, \u201cI am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning YOUR THOUGHTS will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our orientation classes yesterday we talked about the concept of simplicity. The idea of simplicity is not just trying to live with as little possessions as possible. It\u2019s more like a spiritual discipline. It\u2019s continually working toward removing anything that distracts us from being able to focus all of our resources (time, energy, money, thoughts) toward the task God has called you to do. Paul said in Acts 20:24 \u201cI do not count my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish the course and the ministry I received from the Lord..\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our coworker explained it like this. If someone has hired you and is paying you $150,000 a year, how diligent are you going to be to make sure you accomplish the work \/ the task that he has hired you to do? How diligent are you going to be in order to ensure you keep your job? God has \u201chired\u201d us for a far greater and more important task than any kind of earthly employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another way to think about this is, when you were in school, or if you still are, and you know you have a major test or exam coming up. How does that motivate you and how does that affect the priorities on your time and energy? Most of us clear our schedule of everything that is not absolutely necessary in order to take the time to prepare for that exam. That\u2019s the picture of simplicity. Clearing out everything that is not absolutely necessary in order to devote every resource we have to the task God has given us to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many ways this is how Jesus lived his life. In John 7:17-18 Jesus describes his ministry as seeking the glory of the one who sent Him. He didn\u2019t let anything or anyone distract him from that. In John 5:30 Jesus also said, \u201cI can do nothing on my own\u2026 I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bible Reading Proverbs 4John 7 Devotional thoughts Proverbs 4:23 \u201cGuard your heart with all diligence.\u201d This is more than just be careful what or whom you love. This takes us back to the theme a week or so ago. Be careful what you treasure; Be careful what you set your affections and thoughts on.\u201d DA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[130596],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-declarations-of-truth","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}