God's Word Is Life

In defining what faith is, the same verse of scripture also defines hope, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]." (Hebrews 11:1 AMPC) The biblical concepts of faith (belief; a sure persuasion or conviction of the truth of God's Word) and hope (confident expectation of good in the future) are entirely distinct. We see this revealed by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Notice again, that faith and hope are quite distinct. Faith is the substance, here and now in your heart, of things that you are hoping for in the future. It is the assured confidence, it is being fully convinced of the reality of things not seen, and those unseen things are what God says in His Word. We also know that faith comes exclusively through the Word of God, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17) Looking at the Proverbs of Solomon, we find some wise words that show us just how important God's Word is. Although there is much revealed in Proverbs concerning God's Word, our main focus here is only three verses. "My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh." (Proverbs 4:20-22)

There are four distinct things to be aware of; Give attention; Incline your ear to God's sayings; Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart. First, "my son, give attention to my words." When God speaks to us, we need to give Him our full and undivided attention. To receive from God comes down to one key point, how we listen. Are we listening with undivided attention to God's Word or are we listening to something else? Giving attention to God's Word is not only the key to opening His promises and blessings, but is the key to receiving and or increasing in faith. Many people read the Bible and never hear God because their minds are on other things. We must put ourselves into a position both spiritually and mentally, that enables us to hear what God is saying.

Second, "Incline your ear to my sayings."  Incline here means to bend or bow down, your ear. One cannot bend their ear without also bending the head. Inclining your ear, therefore, means that you are actually inclining your entire head. This implies an attitude of humility as well as one of being teachable, one who is giving attention. An essential requirement for receiving God's Word is to lay down our preconceptions and prejudices, open our ears, and listen carefully to what God says. We must also guard our hearts from rejecting His Word because it doesn't agree with some things that we have been taught as being true. This is why we must look into God's Word  without preconceptions and prejudices. We should come to God and say something like this, "Lord, You are the Teacher, I am the student. I am willing to let You teach me, so I bow down my ear, and I listen to You."

The third thing is, "Do not let them depart from your eyes." The key thought here can be summed up in the word focus. With natural eyesight, incorrect focus causes blurred vision. In the same way, unless we focus our spiritual eyes, we will always have a blurred vision of spiritual reality. Jesus said, "The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness." (Luke 11:34)  We must read the Bible with a good eye that affirms, "This is what God says, this is what He means, and I believe it the way it's written."

The fourth thing we see, "Keep them in the midst of your heart." The purpose of giving attention to God's Words, inclining your ear to His sayings and not letting them depart from your eyes, is so that Gods Words and sayings will reach the inner person, the heart. When His Words get to the heart, they will do what is promised. In the natural world, for some medicine to be effective, it has to be released into the bloodstream, or it will not do what it's supposed to do. Spiritually, God's medicine is effective only when it's released in our hearts so that it can flow to every area of our lives. What one has in their heart will determine the course of their life, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23) Jesus tells us, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45)

Simply put, if we have the right things in our heart, our life will go right. If we have wrong things in our heart, our life will go wrong. So, let us keep God's Word in the midst of our heart not just in the midst of our mind, because it is going to affect the entire way that we live. Therefore, if we take God's Word according to how He has prescribe it, He guarantees us that His Words "are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh." God has given us free will, the right to choose. It is up to every believer to decide whether they will take the prescribed medicine, God's Word, in the way He tells us, that we may find life and health which God has pledged to gives us...