Probing Proverbs: 4:20-22 My child, pay attention to what
I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them
penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and
healing to their whole body.
When I was young I had to learn the hard way about
electricity, because I did not understand the “weight” of a certain word. My
mother would make toast for me, and many times I would tell her I would get the
toast out for us. Each time she said no, and no matter the explanation she
always attached the word “Never!”
She was emphatic about that. One day she had a friend stop by just after she
inserted our bread into the toaster. I decided that I would get the toast out
for us. I did what I thought I had seen her do a million times, the toaster
would click off and she would take a butter knife and retrieve the toast. What
I had not seen…either because of my age or my height…was that she removed the
plug from the wall first! Her “Never!” was a very important word, and because I
ignored it I had a “shocking” experience! Fortunately at this time we lived in
a country that was 110 electricity…not 220! The toaster’s spring was broken, so
it would cut off but not lift the bread. “Never” put a metal butter knife into
a toaster that is still plugged in…”Never!”
This Proverb has a clear theme; the benefit Wisdom can have on
you…the
“whole”
you. Wisdom can bring life to those that find it and healing. How
does that work? It does not mean that wisdom makes a person's heartbeat, or if
you are sick the words will heal you.
The “life” that is being described here is a quality and wisdom will guide
you to live as healthy as possible, including how to help your body heal when
sick. When you take knowledge and learn how to apply it, that wisdom will bring
the richness to your life that only applied knowledge can.
Notice though the important words used here, don’t
just pass them by:
Pay attention – When we give something our attention, we
are concentrating on it. This is proactive though, it won’t
just happen.
Listen carefully – When we approach something carefully, we
will deal with it thoroughly and cautiously.
Don’t lose sight of them – The only way to not lose sight of
something is to keep it within our vision.
Let them penetrate deep – To penetrate carries two ideas with it:
To go through and to discern.
Consider what this would mean to us if we follow this advice
when we approach the knowledge we gain everyday. First, we would deliberately
give our conscious thought to what it means. We will take what we learn and
thoroughly evaluate what it is saying, we will not allow it to leave our minds
until we have fully digested what it means, and lastly we would allow the Truth
it contains to go through both our mind and heart, which would lead us to
discern how to apply what we have learned.
When it comes to the weightier issues of life, this approach
will enrich our life, save us from hurried decisions that lead to regret, and
bring us into the quality that God calls “life,” not a mere existence that just “goes
through the motions.” When we allow Truth to penetrate us, we will grasp the inner
significance of that Truth because it is piercing our consciousness and
emotions!
This will not happen by a mere acquaintance with truth, but
only through meditation and application of truth. Knowing Truth intimately.
The so what? When you read Scripture…how
long do you think about it? How much of Scripture do you read versus how much
of Scripture do you meditate on? Do you have a way of processing what you read
of Scripture? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate your mind as you read
the Scriptures?
