Proverbs 4:21 “Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;”
Solomon has been speaking in Proverbs 4 as a father to his son, and he says in Proverbs 4:20 “My son, give attention to my words.” To ensure he knows how to give attention, to pay attention, he says first “Incline your ear to my sayings.” Then he tells him to keep his words and saying before his eyes pleading that he does not let them depart for his eyes. Furthermore, he tells him to keep them or store them in the very middle of his heart.
So, let’s ask some hard questions. What do you see? What are you setting before your eyes? These are important questions. I am not sure if you have noticed it but there are a lot of verses that have the word EYE or EYES. You will find nearly 600 verses with close to 60 in Proverbs. Many verses will speak of being careful with what one sees.
You might ask why is it so important to keep a watch on what we watch, with what our eyes are seeing. Please listen to Jesus as He said in Matthew 6:22-23 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “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!” Did you see what Jesus said about the eyes?
So, what are you seeing? What are you LOOKING AT with your eyes? What are you placing before your eyes? Big Question: Are you keeping SCRIPTURES where you can see them (literally) and seeing them where you are reading them allowing them into your mind and then hiding in your heart? You may recall that Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:6 “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
In paying attention to God’s Word Solomon tells us to not just open our ears to hear what God has to say, and not just have God’s Word before our eyes but we are to have God’s Word stored in our heart. This teaching is coming from Moses as you just read in Deut. 6:6 and David. David wrote in Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!” Are you memorizing Scripture?
Our lives are guided by what comes from our hearts. What comes from the heart is what it is fed. I trust your heart is being saturated with Scripture.
Continue Strong with God’s Word before your eyes and in your heart,
And remember to DATE The Word