PROVERBS 4:23-27

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

TO PONDER

Earlier in this proverb we learned the incredible capacity of God’s word to give us life and health. Now we learn the very practical approach to safeguarding that life.

Calling ourselves Christians without practicing it as a disciple is not enough to experience the life given to us. A disciple walks the walk of following Jesus. We disciples are not merely hearers of the Word, we are its practitioners also. Eternity is guaranteed to all who confess Jesus as Lord and live it out. Today’s life is a gift but taking hold of it and its fullness requires the transforming practices of seeking God and his Kingdom.

These are the simple disciplines:

·      Fix your eyes on God who goes before you, trust him.

·       Start and end the day with prayer. (Try the app. ‘Lectio 365’)

·      Spend time in the Word. Struggle with it. 

·      Be patient with your growth and know that what you have is enough for today.

·      Resist temptation by trusting the word within you. Call on God to guide your feet along Holy paths.

·      Love as God loves you and do it with others. It is with others that God builds your character. 

Disciples are disciplined in these things for in them, the life of God is revealed in us and through us.

Spiritual Intelligence is fixing our eyes on Jesus and all that he stands for.

PRAYER

Lord God, turn my eyes toward Jesus and allow me to look straight into his loving face. May his face transform me. Amen.

Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra