Proverbs 4:1-27

For Reading and Meditation:     Proverbs 4:10-27

We pause today to make clear the difference between diligence and obstinacy. I know people who have experienced spiritual shipwreck because they didn't know the difference between these two things. When asked to clarify the difference between perseverance and obstinacy, a student wrote: "One is a strong will and the...

A. P. Gibbs used to say, "You are not what you think you are, but what you think - this is what you are." This means that the mind is the spring from which behavior flows. Control the source and you control the stream that flows from it.

Therefore control of the thought-life is basic. That is why Solomon said, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23) Here the heart is used as a synonym for the...

In the first four verses of Proverbs 4:1-27, Solomon describes how good advice can and should be passed down from one generation to another. He tells how his father had taught him, then urges his son, in turn, to pay attention to good doctrine and sound instruction.

It is sensible for young people to learn as much as possible from their earthly parents concerning the practical affairs of life. But it is also true that, in the spiritual...

Keep that which is good, in it; that which is evil, out: thoughts, feelings, purposes, imaginations, desires. Especially, keep God's word in it. Quench not the Spirit. Cherish a memory for what is good. Be as a gardener; be as a banker.

For the mind is God's wonderful gift.

As our thoughts, so our words and acts.

As our thoughts, so our future life.

Be as the pilot.

Thermopylae.

Our peace easily destroyed by unwatchfulness.

God looks at the...

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. § Death and life are in the power of the tongue. § The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. § Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.For we cannot but...

Get wisdom! Get understanding! § The wisdom that is from above. § The deep says, “It is not in me”; and the sea says, “It is not with me.” § We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin...

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. § Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. § We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. § When that which is...

Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. § You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.Darkness has blinded his eyes. § Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.The dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty. § Love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.The way of the wicked is like...

The Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory.The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. § They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. § [Give] thanks to the Father...