Evil comes through the minds and hearts of men and the actions they decide to act upon.”
–Ken Pratt (The Gypsum Creek Massacre)
“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
–Matthew 6:23(NKJV)
—————————-
“Be careful little eyes what you see….
Be careful little ears what you hear…
For there’s a Father up above
Looking down in tender love…”
–unknown
Perhaps you remember the little songs from your early Sunday School days. Oh we may laugh and grin about it now, but there is strong biblical truth in it. Let’s look at Proverbs 4:20-22 this morning.
20 — My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
21 — Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 — For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. (NKJV)
(ESV)
21 — Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.
22 — For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.
I used to tell students that there are two easy ways to get me mad at them. One was their friendships, the other was their music. “Oh be careful little ears what you hear.” Warren Wiersbe says that, “what enters my ears will ultimately influence my mind, my heart and my decisions, therefore we need to be careful what we listen to.” This not only includes music, but also what teachers we come under the influence of and their ideologies, the conversations of those around us. Remember the words of Paul, [let is not be named] “neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” (Ephesians 5:3, NKJV) Do you hear foolishness coming from your friends or even worse, filthiness coming from their mouths or talking the Lord’s name in vain? Or do you hear words of thankfulness and gratefulness? Hmmm, time for some inventory.
Notice that there is something we must do in these verses–we must keep them, and that implies work. If we listen to all the voices around us how will we be able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Keeping the eyes and the ears are ways to keep the heart. They help protect the heart. “If the heart is healthy, the benefit is felt to the extremities of the body; if it is diseased, the whole physical frame suffers.” (Flores) Matthew tells us that “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” (6:22, NKJV)
How can we follow the instructions of the Bible, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart”,(Deuteronomy 6:6, NKJV) if we do not give attention, hold onto, and keep the words of the Lord? J. Vernon McGee tells us that “God’s words are the words of life.” They are living words; words that will guide us through this life and into eternity. We are to diligently keep them, or as Matthew Henry states, “study the methods of duty.”
Who do you listen to? “Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1, NKJV) comes the words of Satan to try and deceive you as he did with Eve. “Do you really believe this stuff?” he questions you. “Your dad and mom are fuddy-duddies, this is a new progressive age. They are just old-fashioned,” comes his snide, sly words. Do you listen or do you have the Word of God in your heart? The devil came to Jesus with the same words, “has God said…” Listen, as the old preacher F.B. Meyer said, “If you think right, you will live right.” Listen to the instruction, the true instruction of the word of God and be careful to what you listen to and what you see. It is imperative to your life on this earth, but more importantly it will affect your eternal destination.
Keep the Word in front of you continually. Matthew Henry gives some good advice, “As the spiritual life was begun by the word as the instrument of it, so by the same word it is still nourished and maintained; we could not live without it, we may by faith live upon it.” The Word in our heart brings faith, and by grace through faith are we saved. Now we are continually nourished by this same Word; we become discipled by this Word. As the heart pumps life into the body, so the Word hidden in our hearts pumps spiritual life into our souls.
“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
–Matthew 6:23(NKJV)
—————————-
“Be careful little eyes what you see….
Be careful little ears what you hear…
For there’s a Father up above
Looking down in tender love…”
–unknown
Perhaps you remember the little songs from your early Sunday School days. Oh we may laugh and grin about it now, but there is strong biblical truth in it. Let’s look at Proverbs 4:20-22 this morning.
20 — My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
21 — Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 — For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. (NKJV)
(ESV)
21 — Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.
22 — For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.
I used to tell students that there are two easy ways to get me mad at them. One was their friendships, the other was their music. “Oh be careful little ears what you hear.” Warren Wiersbe says that, “what enters my ears will ultimately influence my mind, my heart and my decisions, therefore we need to be careful what we listen to.” This not only includes music, but also what teachers we come under the influence of and their ideologies, the conversations of those around us. Remember the words of Paul, [let is not be named] “neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” (Ephesians 5:3, NKJV) Do you hear foolishness coming from your friends or even worse, filthiness coming from their mouths or talking the Lord’s name in vain? Or do you hear words of thankfulness and gratefulness? Hmmm, time for some inventory.
Notice that there is something we must do in these verses–we must keep them, and that implies work. If we listen to all the voices around us how will we be able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Keeping the eyes and the ears are ways to keep the heart. They help protect the heart. “If the heart is healthy, the benefit is felt to the extremities of the body; if it is diseased, the whole physical frame suffers.” (Flores) Matthew tells us that “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” (6:22, NKJV)
How can we follow the instructions of the Bible, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart”,(Deuteronomy 6:6, NKJV) if we do not give attention, hold onto, and keep the words of the Lord? J. Vernon McGee tells us that “God’s words are the words of life.” They are living words; words that will guide us through this life and into eternity. We are to diligently keep them, or as Matthew Henry states, “study the methods of duty.”
Who do you listen to? “Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1, NKJV) comes the words of Satan to try and deceive you as he did with Eve. “Do you really believe this stuff?” he questions you. “Your dad and mom are fuddy-duddies, this is a new progressive age. They are just old-fashioned,” comes his snide, sly words. Do you listen or do you have the Word of God in your heart? The devil came to Jesus with the same words, “has God said…” Listen, as the old preacher F.B. Meyer said, “If you think right, you will live right.” Listen to the instruction, the true instruction of the word of God and be careful to what you listen to and what you see. It is imperative to your life on this earth, but more importantly it will affect your eternal destination.
Keep the Word in front of you continually. Matthew Henry gives some good advice, “As the spiritual life was begun by the word as the instrument of it, so by the same word it is still nourished and maintained; we could not live without it, we may by faith live upon it.” The Word in our heart brings faith, and by grace through faith are we saved. Now we are continually nourished by this same Word; we become discipled by this Word. As the heart pumps life into the body, so the Word hidden in our hearts pumps spiritual life into our souls.