ResponsiveReiding

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Keeping the heart is a call of dire need. The heart of the human being – is the core of life. Of course the organ that pumps blood is not being referred to here – but the organ of the soul that communicates life and purpose and passion to the whole being is intended. It is what the old theologians used to refer to as inward “inclination” – what each of us is inclined toward as the governing direction of our life’s pursuit – the gravitational pull of our inward man. What, when all else is stripped away, drives and motivates us.

The truth is, many of us never even take the time to find out what exactly DOES motivate us above all else. We often flit from thing to thing still looking for an all consuming passion. But in reality, we already have one. It is at the bottom of all the choices we make in life. We simply haven’t identified it yet. For some it is safety. For others, pleasure. Still others seek meaning above all else, or a sense of accomplishment, approval, validation or simply to consume what seems most desirable at the moment.

So how does one then “keep” or guard the heart, so that we are walking in wisdom and in fellowship with God and His eternal plans and purposes? What am I to be “vigilant” over for that to happen – so that the “springs of life” – the fountain of true joy and refreshment and sustenance remain unpolluted by the poisons of the Fall?

Our Teacher points out four things.

1. (24) One must cultivate honesty with themselves, and with others. If we are willing to entertain duplicity – to have secret lives, to live dishonestly with others, we will inevitably be habitual hypocrites. We must be brutally honest with ourselves about our own sinfulness and unwilling to seem better than we are to others – even if that invites rebuke. Passing ourselves off as Mr. or Ms. Altogether-Christian for the public consumption of others will lead us to hide, and at the same time to live in constant judgment of others. If you are constantly avoiding letting people see who you really are, or pointing the finger at other’s sins – this is probably your area of need.

2. (25) We must be actually aimed at the goal of Heaven and Christ’s likeness. If that is not our goal and aim in life – if that is not where we are traveling to in life – then we are headed somewhere else. No one stumbles into Heaven – we go there intentionally or not at all. There will be no accidental tourists there. Those who have no clear destination will wander – emotionally, spiritually and in every other area of life. Are you on your way to meet the King? Are you actually plotting a course there? If not, you will not arrive.

3. (26) We must examine and re-examine our decisions to see if they are commensurate with our stated goal and direction. The heart is distracted and polluted when our decision making practice does not at least include (at SOME point) the question as to how this decision fits with where I am going and who I am becoming in Christ. Countless woes would be avoided if we would ask this of ourselves before we entered into things. How does X fit with my journey to see Jesus? Does it help? Does it hinder? Is it compatible?

4. (27) We cannot move off of the path that the Scripture has given us, and still get there. Isaiah calls it a “highway of holiness.” There is only one way to follow Christ – I must walk the same way He does, I must go WITH Him. And He is not going certain places. He is not heading into sexual immorality. He is not moving toward theft, or lust, or dishonesty, or coveting this world’s goods, or fame or pleasure. He is headed home to His Father. And there but one road there – Him. He Himself IS the truth, the life and the way.

So my friend – where are you off to today? And how will you be getting there?

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Man’s wisdom says: Find out what you love, and pursue it. God’s wisdom says: Find out if what you love is worthy of pursuit. If not – get a new love.

Guard and govern what you let yourself love. Moths are attracted to the flame, and often so are we. We can be intrigued with brazen sin, and with diversions in study and even religion. With our mates, careers, hobbies, etc. Enjoy them, we are supposed to enjoy them – but do not love them the same.

The Worlds’ wisdom and God’s are ever at odds. And when you stumble across passages like this one, the differences are highlighted with stunning clarity. For there is probably no place where the very core of what it means to live – to live life – is better unfolded than in examining the loves of our own hearts. Who and what we love speaks volumes.

In fact, it is those loves which set the entire course for our lives and determine how and what we do.

We decide what to do and when based upon what we love. Yes, sometimes those loves are competing and complex – but the main thought here runs true. I may not “love” the idea of having my body cut open and parts removed while I am asleep and helpless, but if I love the idea of remaining alive, I’ll subject myself to the surgeon’s knife anyway.

Love of one thing will make me forsake other things I love – like love for health making me forsake a diet of nothing but ice cream cakes. But in the final analysis, it is always what I love most, which will win out. This holds the key to each of us analyzing the decisions we make. Hence, we have this admonition from the writer of Proverbs 4 to “keep” our hearts, guard them with all “vigilance”. Because the waters of your life and mine, flow out from that place. What we love, will determine how that river flows. Violently after certain loves; Purely after others; Consistently after still others, and Refreshingly to those around us out of other loves yet.

If we were to contrast the World’s wisdom at this point most clearly against the backdrop of God’s wisdom – we could perhaps do it this way: Man’s wisdom says: “Find out what you love, and pursue it.” It is the mantra not only of career counselors, but also of the Church at times. But the wisdom from above says instead: “Find out if what you love is worthy of pursuit. And if it isn’t – get a new love.” This is what it means to guard or keep you heart – to govern what you allow it to love.

In our day of people literally being victims of “falling in love” as though it is utterly involuntary, the Bible bids us to live higher, and infinitely free-er. So my friend – what are the things you love? Are they worthy? If not – get new ones. You’ll find that will ALWAYS lead you to the most worthy One of all. And there – you can love and pursue with utter abandon and joy.

Proverbs 4:7 “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.”

My first REAL crush on a girl was on Carol. In High School. She was my first kiss. She was very bright (graduated a year early) and pretty and talented and she liked me. Go figure. And the summer we started seeing each other, I had the wonderful privilege of sharing the Gospel with her and I believe seeing her come to faith in Christ. But she went off to college and I had another year of school and soon we lost contact completely.

About 15 years ago, after the notice of an upcoming high school reunion, I started searching the web for old school chums, and began wondering where Carol was and how life had gone for her. Surly she was married to some extraordinary guy. But she was nowhere to be found.

After tracking down her old best friend, she put me on to Carol’s older brother whom I had known, and was finally able to contact him. Norm was surprised to hear from me. We chatted cordially about other siblings we knew and I finally inquired about Carol. The phone got quiet. “You don’t know?” he asked. Know what? I replied. Carol passed away. 2 years out of high school.

It seems that Carol thought she had contracted the flu. She went to the hospital, and they thought the same thing and treated her accordingly. But she didn’t have the flu. She had contracted hepatitis. They caught the mistaken diagnosis too late. It claimed her life.

What has this to do with Proverbs 4? A lot. In most areas of life, making a decision without ALL the facts isn’t actually life threatening. In Carol’s case it was. And Proverbs is constantly calling us to not settle for surface information on anything – but to gain true wisdom – insight.

This is especially critical when it comes to understanding spiritual truth – where the consequences may far exceed merely life-threatening levels, but reach eternal, soul-threatening heights.

Never settle for a surface understanding of things, especially in Biblical truth. Dig. Inquire. Seek the entire story. Reserve your judgments. Hear both sides, all sides if more. Think. Consider. Turn it over and over. Pray.

As in the case before us in Proverbs – get wisdom and insight into the need to stay on course. What path to walk in life. Where am I going? Where are my steps, my actions, my attitudes and my decisions taking me? Or am I just “going” – not really giving thought to my final destination?

Do I understand how God’s economy in how this world works? And where am I in relation to it? Do I understand the true nature of sin, and of salvation? Of faith and imputed righteousness? Of the need for the cross and the substitutionary death of Christ?

The difference in such matters is not merely an issue of life and death – but of eternal life and death.

Get wisdom. And whatever you get, get insight.

Proverbs 4:5 “Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.”

What becomes increasingly plain in the book of Proverbs is, that insight and wisdom have to do with understanding how things are, and how they work – from God’s point of view. It is insight into the divine economy. It is like having sight in a world of blind men.

It isn’t that we are to try and see things that aren’t there, but see them as they really are.

Values are assigned by eternal standards, not temporal.

Eternal justice must always be held in tension.

God’s sovereignty as well as man’s responsibility have to be kept together.

Man’s relationship to God must define his relationship to all others, and to the the universe itself.

Heavenly Father, how we need this wisdom. How we plead to you for this insight.

All of this requires that Christ be contemplated as the sum and center of God’s plans and purposes. Clearing the fog off of life by redirecting oneself to think about how my life and its various facets fit into the purposes and plans Of God in Christ.

Christ IS God’s wisdom.

Here is where God’s genius is brought before our view in the very deepest parts. To be caught up in this unimaginable plan to bless an undeserving people through untold mercy and grace, and then to bring us right into His family. This is unfathomably wonderful. And if we are failing to be amazed at it, we need to look harder, and ask for more and more insight.

We need to ask ourselves over and over – what is it that is so wonderful in this salvation, in Christ, that the Father holds it up as supremely worthy of our everlasting and infinite inquiry and attention. So if I “just don’t get it”, I need to seek Him until I do.

Proverbs 3:28 “Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.”

The last observation we need to make on this chapter comes to us by way of a closer look at vs. 28.

With good reason, many commentators link this verse with Leviticus 19:13 – “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.” And Deuteronomy 24:15 “You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.”

The idea in these is mainly ethical. Workers were paid on a daily basis, not weekly or monthly. Since they depended upon the day’s wages to meet the day’s needs, timely payment was imperative. To withhold timely payment, was to sin against your neighbor’s welfare.

This is sound for us to observe in our own lives in how we pay our personal debts, as well as for corporations in how they deal with their employees. The immorality of corporations failing to be good stewards and then robbing their employees down the road of promised retirement funds and other benefits is rampant today. All this while at the same time, these same poor stewards provide the most lavish of “golden parachutes” for themselves. Do not think that God turns a blind eye to such things.

Then again, It has application when it comes to meeting the needs of those who might come to us seeking help. Being ready and willing to aide others with what God has so graciously supplied for us is a given. It is loving our neighbors as ourselves. It is living out the Gospel.

Yet, in this profound chapter, aimed at moving us toward a Gospel Centered Mind, we need to look at the thought in that context especially. In other words, in terms of our readiness to meet the deepest, most pressing need of our neighbors, with what every Christian has an inexhaustible supply of – the Gospel itself.

It seems fitting to see this exhortation in terms being at the ready to give the Gospel at every opportunity.

Christian, do not listen to the deceptions of your own hear that argue you need to be in a better mood, or have your mind in a better place. That it is inconvenient, or that you don’t have the time at that moment to do it well. You have the words of eternal life with you at all times. Seize the moment He has provided you. Don’t wait. Fulfill your ambassadorial role and tell them the good news. “Christ has come. He has died the death for sin at Calvary. Final judgment awaits us all – and might be here in a moment. Look to Christ and put your trust in Him as your sin-bearer. Today. Forsake your sin, repent and believe.” What an impact a moment can have on someone’s eternity.

“Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.”

Proverbs 3:19–20 “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; 20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.”

In the middle of Solomon’s laying out the implications of the Gospel Centered mind in chapter three, it is as though he stands up – unable to constrain himself – to tell his son how blessed this way of living is (vss. 13-18).  Then, in two follow up verses, he explains that God is a God of wisdom. He contemplates His own steps. He does not act arbitrarily or randomly – which is evident everywhere you look in creation. The point? The God of all blessedness, the One Whom IS blessedness itself – walks in wisdom. As made in His image, we get to walk that way too – above every other creature.

Animals, do not walk in wisdom, they live by instinct. That is not to say that certain species are not gifted with high levels of intelligence – they clearly are. But in the final analysis, they are not building nests on the basis of technological eco-forecasts. While certain behaviors are passed on from adults to offspring, that is not by means of relaying abstract thoughts through communication with complex speculations, verbal instruction and convincing arguments as humans do. Even animals that make and use rudimentary tools do not advance in such endeavors. Your dog may dream about chasing cats, but is hardly formulating opinions on the superiority of the canine over the feline in abstract ways – writing dissertations or blogging about it. They don’t have it in them. But we do. Because we were made in God’s image.

The upshot of Solomon’s remarks here is that they are remarkably tailored to the present day context in which we live. It is no happy coincidence that Solomon uses his appeal to creation to get his point across. And we need to listen to especially in our day.

Here is a call to keep always in view – that it is God who made this world in which we live – with purpose and wisdom, and that by His design it functions and exists. This is so we never cross over into existential despair. So we never fall into the fears of randomness. Never fail to see God is behind life itself, and that He remains sovereign and supreme as He moves all of history toward its final goal of all things summed up in Christ Jesus.

The knowledge that human existence is on a trajectory toward an eternal goal is vital to our living in hope and reality. The damnable horror that has sprung from a Godless, evolutionary view of man that makes him nothing more than a cosmic accident plunges the souls of men into a bottomless despair. Only the light of the Gospel as it reveals the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ can rescue us from that wretched abyss.

Proverbs 3:11–12 “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”

We must not make the assumption that “discipline” & “reproof” are executed angrily by God. This is a human attachment which is by no means necessary. Training and reproof can often – and perhaps MOST often ought to be done gently and lovingly. Picture a father with his steadying hand on the bicycle while his sweet daughter attempts to ride for the first time without training wheels. It is a stereotype of fallen man that posits these roles to mirror Marine drill-sergeants. It need not be the case at all. In fact, God’s reproofs are never mean, arbitrary, disproportionate nor punitive. They are ALWAYS borne of love and affection.

This need to refrain either from despising (treating lightly) or wearying of the Lord’s discipline is true whether you are the subject of such loving discipline, or if you are in leadership and must be an agent in carrying it out, or, if you are part of a Body which engages actively in such outward love. And what applies to leadership in the Church here, equally well applies to parenting in our homes.

At least three applications must be made.

a. The sinner (and sometimes the Christian too) treats the Father’s discipline as though it is a light thing. Either that God does not discipline at all and just leaves us to ourselves, or, that He does not take unrepentant sin in our lives very seriously. It is easy then too – if we DO live in the reality of His loving discipline, to grow weary of it, as though we can do NOTHING right and want to just get away from every manifestation of it. Such then is the need to be reminded this is love, and the product of His delight in us. To pay us the supreme compliment, that the Lord of the universe pays attention to the details of our lives.

b. Leadership can treat discipline lightly and thus neglect it. Or, being confronted with many needs to administer it in certain seasons, can grow exceedingly weary in the process. But we are to be agents of God’s love – NOT His wrath. We must keep this focus and not let it cross over into something heavy and odious. We too must remember how the Father is delighting in sons and daughters, and that we are there to manifest His love, care and concern in His active involvement in their lives.

c. So too a congregation can begin to wonder if Church discipline is really all that necessary. After all, it is painful and uncomfortable. We naturally dislike it. As a people we can grow weary and just say – “let’s let God handle it alone – why get ourselves all upset at people’s sins and involved in them?” Then again, we must take up the banner of love and be sure we do not neglect to love in the hard places. To do what is uncomfortable, when it is best for the ones we are loving in Christ’s name.

Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. “

It is an easy error to take a passage like this one, and turn it into something it is not. All one need do, is take the first word “trust” and make it bear the entire weight of the thought.

But that is to miss the point entirely.

In other words, our author’s exhortation is NOT to merely be a trusting person, to be a “person of faith” or to have some sort of generic trust that everything will work out OK. What we are being called to here is to trust in God Himself. To trust His character, His promises.

We cannot trust our own perceptions of circumstances and their imagined meanings. But we can and MUST trust God’s revelation of Himself in His word, and in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

This takes us off of the futile task of trying always attach specific meaning to very little event in life – and to instead find the meaning of everything in the Author of Life Himself. Trust Him Believer. Trust the God who cannot lie. Trust the God who cannot sin. Trust His promises. Trust His descriptions of reality in the Word. Trust His Gospel. Trust Him above everybody and everything else.

Then again – do not forget the underlying presupposition here: You cannot trust anyone you do not know – not really. So – do you know Him? Do you know Him in the person of Jesus Christ? Do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? As your sin-bearer? When you do – then you can trust Him fully.

If you do really know Him, then you know you can bring everything to Him, EVERYTHING. He can be trusted with it. Do not fail to make every concern, ever twinge of anxiety or fear known. Do the same with every joy and thanksgiving. And with every sin and failing. You delights, desires and pains and woes. Nothing puts Him off. Nothing scares Him. Nothing is beyond His power. Because He loves you He is FOR you in every struggle. Never try to appear before Him the way you think He wants you to be – come naked, wounded, discouraged, fearful, fretful, sinful and undone. Bring Him into every aspect and moment of life. Every experience. Live life IN Christ.

Matthew 12:20–21 “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; 21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Are you broken and bruised? He will not break you. He will tenderly nurse you back to strength. Is your spiritual flame reduced to little more than a smoldering wick? He won’t extinguish you – He’ll cause His Spirit to gently blow until you burn as a bright flame once more. Come to Him.

Trust in HIM with all your heart – even when you can’t sort out the pieces. And He will see to it you do not fall off the path to His glory.

As we saw Sunday, this address of Solomon to his son is aimed at encouraging him to develop a Gospel Centered Mind. Why do we say Gospel centered all the way back in Proverbs? Because verses 3-6 camp on letting steadfast love and faithfulness dominate his thinking, while at the same time exhorting him to trust the Lord with his whole heart. The connection can’t be missed. It is the Lord we are to trust this absolutely – letting HIS steadfast love and faithfulness rule our entire thought process.

Only the one who has seen their sin and guilt before God, and His amazing provision for human sin in the person and work of Christ – especially at Calvary – can have such a deep, life encompassing assurance. We cannot over emphasize the need for this in the Believer’s life. Apart from it, life will overshadow Christ. In it, the Cross overshadows all of life. It is a “pre-echo” if you will of Jude 21 “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

So allow me to exhort you as well in this vital matter again today. Christian, Believer, Child of God  –  Never let the wonder, the mystery, and glory, the reality of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness toward you ever escape your consciousness.

When we imagine His love to be vacillating or indistinct – or when we doubt the absolute certainty of His commitment to see all of His promises to come to pass – faith suffers its most devastating blows. We must see our God as constitutionally incapable of the any of the defects of human love. In the darkest of hours, He cannot love you any more, nor can He love you any less. See Him as ontologically unable to fail to keep His word, or to break His promises. He does not merely carry out His promises faithfully, He IS faithful. This is the One with whom we have to do. This is our God. Loving and faithful beyond anything the human mind can imagine. This is the One in whom we place our trust.

Know this for yourself, and remind yourself often, of the steadfast love of the Lord, and of His faithfulness. That He cannot fail. And in that, become one of steadfast love and faithfulness yourself. And when that seems to wane, do everything in your power to restore it. Call out for it in prayer. Seek for it like buried treasure in His Word. Sing about it in your Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Talk about it with your fellow Believers. Find books rehearing and explicating it. Saturate your heart and mind with the wonder of His grace – with His inviolably steadfast love, and His absolute faithfulness. Above all – keep looking to the Cross, and see it carried out there and sealed in the very blood of the Savior. What more absolute guarantee can He grant?

As the 18^th century hymn writer put it:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

We will close out our look at the 4 benefits Solomon told his son he could expect from following the 7 steps of vss. 1-4, with verse 20: “so you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.”

What a wonderful and vast promise that is.

It is vitally important at this point that we realize Solomon’s concern is not that his son simply adopt a certain set of behaviors. Whenever we confuse mere behavior with true sanctification we open the door for legalism, Phariseeism and religiosity. It is a very dangerous place to go spiritually. Once one assumes that walking in righteousness is a matter of mere performance, they set themselves up to be either perpetually discouraged, or, measuring their performance against others – become prideful and trusting in their own performance more than trusting in grace alone.

Without reading too much into the word – Solomon’s use of the word “walk” is wonderfully instructive. For nothing is more natural, nor a better way to conceptualize true sanctification than the image of walking. It is a picture of every day movement. It is not a picture of formalized actions. When one walks, they do not give much thought to how they walk – the mechanics of it, as much as simply moving toward an object or a destination. And this is precisely what we want to get to. We want our walking in righteousness to be the natural way we continue to move toward the final destination of conformity to Christ’s image, and eternity in His presence. It is Bunyan’s Pilgrim on the way to the Celestial City.

Let me try to say it another way. When Jesus called the Disciples to Himself, He did not say “here’s my book of rules, read it, memorize it, and start doing these things. It was far more simple. “Follow me” is the repeated formula. Walk with me. I always do what the Father desires. I always say what He gives me to say. I am on my way to where He is by way of the Cross – so just walk with me. Follow me. And you can’t go wrong.

Why can He say that? Because (as Bunyan remarks in a different place) Jesus didn’t “do” righteousness as if obeying some law structure outside of Himself. He did what came naturally. He was righteous, and so He walked righteously. And this is what He wants to reproduce in us by virtue of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Christ within us. A people who “walk” – who comport themselves in everyday life, as naturally in righteousness as it is natural for God Himself. Indeed, this is the promise of being conformed to the image of Christ.

One day Believer, you and I will just be able to do what comes naturally – because by virtue of the Spirit’s completed work in glorification, we’ll only WANT to do what is righteous. Not conforming to an external standard, but having been transformed in the inner man. The fullness of what Peter says we already taste now: 2 Peter 1:3–4 (ESV) — “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

This is the process which has been begun in us by grace, and this is what we are to grow in continually – until He comes for us. And this is what He will complete in us. All this, in the searching out of the unsearchable riches of the person and work of Jesus Christ – actualized by His indwelling Spirit.

What a salvation! What a Savior!