Week 33: Proverbs 7

Proverbs 7:1 “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live. Guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.”

I like to think I am not that old. But the longer I live, the more and more I think this is the KEY to continue living the way God would have me to. I heard a preacher once say “You are who you are by what you put into your mind.” He is right. What I choose to focus on and imprint on my mind, that will become more and more a focus of my attention. 

So, what am I reading or focusing on? It could be a number of things: The stock market, political polls, my 401K, sports statistics, fantasy football, The Wall Street Journal, Field & Stream (and the list goes on and on and on and on.....)

The point is, we as people are focused on all kinds of things. But the big question is, am I focusing on what truly matters? Am I truly investing time in and digesting what really matters?

Later in Proverbs 7 we read about what can happen when temptation comes our way. Verse 27 states it bluntly: “Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.” 

“Her house” doesn’t always seem that bad. At times it actually seems quite inviting. But, when I am in the heat of the moment, I hope I am able to remember the time I’ve spent meditating on the commands of God, and that those commands will be imbedded in my heart. Only with His strength and His spirit in my life will I be able to persevere and make the decisions He would have me make. 

“You are what you are by what you put into your mind.” Let’s make sure what we put in our mind really is what matters. 

—Josh Swanger