Our most precious possession

Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. (Proverbs 7:1-3)

How do we follow God's commands when we either don't know them, or we don't treasure them as something we want to live by above all else? God's commands must be learned. We don't find them in this world's systems or 'norms'. We find them in his Word. We must get to know them - allowing them to become the norms by which we live our lives. God's commands must come first in our lives. We must reject all that attempts to interfere with either getting to know them well or living by them above all other influences. 

Truly our most precious possessions on this earth pale in comparison to his commands. We can never let our guard down. As we allow our guard to come down, we open ourselves to see and hear this world's influencing thoughts and actions. Following requires more than mindless actions. We must be cognizant of our thoughts, actions, and attitudes. There is no greater way to reveal these at times than to spend time in God's Word. As we do, we find where many thoughts have entered into our minds that are likely contrary to the way God wants us to live.

God's instructions were to write his Word on the heart. Bind them to our fingers. Why? So all that we think and do will be governed by what his desires are for us. Heart (mind, will and emotions) might be in need of some instruction - not this world's wisdom, but God's. We only grow when our lives are 'tuned into' God's wisdom. It is more than just 'casual advice' - it is life producing, life protecting, practical instruction on how we are to act.

As we rely upon God's Spirit to help us see and understand our sinful self, the more we recognize the need for his power to help regulate our lives. We aren't 'cleaned up' old men - we are given a new nature in Christ Jesus because the old man was prone to listening to this world's advice and we all know how flawed that can be! Just sayin!