Proverbs 4:24-27, Man the Bulwarks!
February 21, Proverbs 4:24-27
Psalm 25; Eph. 2:1-10 “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:62).
Man the Bulwarks!
Keep thy heart with all diligence! Here is a paradox! We are commanded to do what we cannot, for no one can keep his own heart. “The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God, and after conversion to keep it with Him” (Flavel). It is God’s work, but “our efforts are His instrumentality. He implants an active principle, and sustains the unceasing exercise” (Bridges). We know thoughts shape our character and conduct. Paul’s appeal in Romans 12:1-2 is to every faithful soldier on the Bulwarks.
- The Fortifications: Man the bulwarks of the Citadel. “Sow a thought, reap a word; sow a word, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny” (Thackeray).
a. Guard Your Speech. Both adjectives froward and perverse mean crooked mouths, twisted words (Matt. 12:34); the opposite of straight talk. Because we are all born in sin, no one is free of its pollution, but those who have been made free by the blood of Christ. God has given us the power of speech, but let none forget that God is one of the listeners. If your thought-life is unhealthy, it shows up in your speech. Crooked mouths and twisted words have no place in the family of God, for the Father is always present. Guard your speech, for it can and must be cleansed. Keep both mouth and lips under the Divine discipline (Jas. 3:5-6; 1 Pet. 4:19). Put away, yea, put far from you, perverse lips.
b. Protect Your Sight (v.25). Where we look and what we see is also guided by our thought-life. Jesus said, If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. “Two men looked out from prison bars, the one saw mud, the other stars.” Paul and Silas in many trials, Bunyan in Bedford jail for twelve years, Milton in his prison of blindness, and a host of other believers, looked up amidst trials and, lo, they saw the stars! Man with a God-given destiny before him is seldom drawn into Bye-path Meadow. His eye is fixed on the goal (Heb. 12:2) as he runs the race. Moses endured, as seeing him who is invisible (Heb. 11:37). “Both in appearance and reality let your path be a straightforward one” (Arnot). Keep the eyes of your soul ever upon the mark for the prize (Phil. 3:10-14).
c. Watch Your Step (vs.26-27). When evil thinking is cured (Ps. 40:1-2), God opens a new path and orders it aright (Ps. 37:23). Ponder means to weight as in a balance. Thus Charles Bridges advises, “Estimate every step by its conformity to the known will of God.” Ask a young person why he or she lives or dresses so, the answer will be fashion or it’s the in thing. These are the balances which “quacks supply and fools employ, and multitudes trust them.” Tragically, these false balances are leading multitudes of our children (as well as adults) to perdition (Eph. 5:15), yet how perfect are the balances of Heaven!
Thought: “The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts” (Locke).
Prayer: Be Lord of my every thought and action, now and ever more.”