Posted on 09/04/2022 12:28:19 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble” (Proverbs 4:10).
“Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings,” some people hear you, even smile at you—it gets to one ear and maybe, just maybe gets over to the other ear, but you can tell they are not receiving it. They hear sound, some noise, but they really aren’t listening. A lot of that happens in church. Nice sermon, preacher. Oh yeah, what did I preach about. “Oh, I don’t remember, but it was sure good!”
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:21-22 KJV).
“That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (I Thessalonians 2:12-13 KJV).
It is one thing to come and hear something, and an entirely different thing to receive it. It is something else to take it in and to apply it to your life, and to learn from it, and to live with it.
“Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many,” another good Old Testament promise that is also good for a Christian. You live the way that God wants you to live, and you’ll live as long as God wants you to live.
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25 KJV). “The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath” (Proverbs 15:24 KJV). Wisdom will keep us out of trouble, and it will keep a man out of big trouble if it can keep them out of hell.
Here is a promise, if you get a hold of wisdom and stay on the right path, “when thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened.” A straight place is a narrow place. Your steps will not be narrowed. They say about a fellow that is playing both ends against the middle—in a dangerous situation— “He’s walking a tight rope!” His steps are narrow or straightened. A man is in a very dangerous position when he is walking like that. It’s easy for him to be knocked off, it’s easy for him to be hurt.
So, if you get wisdom, and you get understanding, you won’t be walking that tight rope between life and disaster. We have enough trouble just getting around as it is, we don’t need any tight ropes.
“. . . and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble,” notice over in verse 19, the wicked stumble, and they don’t know why.
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