Application of godly wisdom throughout your body

Proverbs 4:20-27 (God’s Word Translation)

My son, pay attention to my words.  Open your ears to what I say.  Do not lose sight of these things.  Keep them deep within your heart because they are life to those who find them and they heal the whole body.  Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.  Remove dishonesty from your mouth.  Put deceptive speech far away from your lips.  Let your eyes look straight ahead and your sight be focused in front of you.  Carefully walk a straight path, and all your ways will be secure.  Do not lean to the right or to the left.  Walk away from evil.

While Solomon wrote these words of wisdom to his son, we should consider these direct words of wisdom from the Lord to us.  Whoever is reading this, cross out “My son” and insert your name.  Now note all the references to parts of your body—your ears, eyes, heart, mouth, lips, and legs.  While these words of wisdom refer to your physical actions, they more deeply refer to your spiritual actions.

Ears:  Ears refer to the ability to hear.   However, many people (including me) cannot hear well or at all.  Biblically, ears also refer to understanding and acting upon what you hear.  Many times Jesus spoke the phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear” (e.g. Matthew 13:9 and 43, Luke 14:35, Rev 2:7, at least 12 other verses).  What He meant by this phrase was something to the effect, “I know that what I am teaching to you is difficult and you might resist My teaching because it will require some changes in your life, but don’t ignore Me.  Listen carefully to what I am teaching, think carefully to understand what I am teaching, and act on what I am asking you to do or be.  Don’t forget.”

Eyes:  Wrong use of your eyes can cause all kinds of serious sin.  For men, it’s primarily sexual immorality.  For women, it might be covetousness or envy.  Eyes looking straight ahead have several important implications---being truthful (eyes glancing sideways suggest lying/deceiving), not comparing yourself to others (leading either to prideful superiority or jealous inferiority), being obedient to God’s Word, and always moving forward with your life and goals, not being sidetracked. 

Heart:  Proverbs 4:23 defines your heart as the source of your life.  You are to guard it more than anything else because what is in your heart dictates what your life is like.   Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines your heart as the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life, the home of the personal life, and the seat of the conscience.  The heart is naturally wicked (Gen 8:21, Eccles 8:11) and must be changed before you can obey the Lord (Psalm 51:10-14).

Mouth/Lips:  The commandment here is to be truthful, don’t lie and don’t deceive.  Yet lying and deceiving are natural consequences of a life without God and, unfortunately, may continue after becoming a Christian.  Lying and deceiving are done to save face, to shift blame, to protect others from knowing the truth, to get your own way, to get out of doing something and many other reasons.  What is the underlying reason for lying and deceiving---human pride---the number 1 cause of sin and the main source of evil.      

Legs:  Like the proper use of your eyes, you are to use your legs to walk a straight path; that is, to walk away from evil and walk toward obedience to the Lord.  Make a fist in front of your eyes.  Your fist represents sin.   Sin is always there.  The unbeliever always walks toward the fist; the believer always tries to walk away from it.  Sin, represented by the fist, is always around, but it’s our attitude and actions in confronting it.  You are to walk to straight path, not wavering left or right.  Funny how I think of the Johnny Cash song “Walk the Line” where the first stanza words have a lot in common with this passage from Proverbs: “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.  I keep my eyes wide open all the time.  I keep the ends out for the tie that binds.  Because you're mine, I walk the line.”

Pay attention to what the Lord is speaking to you through His words right now.  What part(s) of your life need to be changed?  Ask Him for forgiveness and a fresh start and a new resolve to use your ears, eyes, heart, mouth, and legs according to His will, not yours.