Proverbs 4:20-22 (ESV)
20 My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
Once again the father urges his son to pay attention. We have encountered this appeal repeatedly in the opening chapters of Proverbs, and the repetition is instructive. Some truths are so vital that we never move beyond them. We must hear again and again that we are not to live selfishly, but to place the interests of others above our own, to seek time with God, and to trust his plan. We must remember that life is hard, that God loves us, and that he is working all things together for good in the lives of those who belong to him. Though these realities are familiar and easily spoken to others, our own hearts need to be reminded of them continually.
The father says again, be attentive. Incline your ear. Wisdom calls for deliberate listening. The son must continually pursue the path of wisdom with focused resolve, embracing it as a pattern of life. The father adds, let them not escape from your sight. The son is to keep what is wise clearly before his eyes. He must be prepared for a lifetime of saying no to the desires of the flesh and the pull of the world.
He can only do this if he keeps wisdom within his heart. The movement is intentional, from ears to eyes to heart. Truth must be internalized. If we merely conform outwardly while our hearts resist, we will eventually fail. We must ask God to change our desires and to make us willing to release even the things we treasure if he calls us to let them go. We must learn to love what he loves and hate what he hates, though it may not feel natural at first.
The motivation follows. The words of wisdom are life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh. There is reward and relief in doing life God’s way. The struggle that comes from resisting him is wearying, and he will not be overcome. Deep rest is found when we yield, when we allow God to be God and gladly submit to his wise rule.
But change does not originate in human resolve. It flows from a right relationship with Jesus Christ. He alone provides the remedy for our sin. When we acknowledge our moral failure and place our trust in him, he grants new hearts inclined toward obedience. The world may offer temporary remedies that soothe for a moment, but they never reach the disease beneath the surface. Ask Jesus for a clean heart today, and be ready to put to death anything that competes with the desires his Spirit creates within you.