DAY 1 – MAY 16
TITLE: “PAY
ATTENTION”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
READING: PROVERBS 4:20
Key Verse: “My son,
pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.” Proverbs 4:20
The psalmist said, “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:1-3
Many of us pray with the expectation that God will hear us. We pray with the faith that God is listening to us. Yes, God is caring for the world, but we believe He is paying attention to us when we pray. Yes, God hears the prayers of people all around the world, but we believe that God is listening to us individually and personally when we prayer. We pray with the expectation that God is tuned into our prayer and paying attention to the request.
Here is a question for us to consider today. Are we tuned in to God and listening to Him? We expect God to pay attention to us, but are we truly paying attention to Him? Are we tuned into what God wants to say to us? Famous German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred during World War II, wrote in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, “Christians have forgotten the ministry of listening that has been committed to them by the one who is Himself the great listener.” God calls us to listen to what He is saying to our hearts. Are you listening and paying attention to what God is saying to you today through His Word and Spirit?
James Hamilton once wrote, “Before refrigerators, people used ice houses to preserve their food. Ice houses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the ice houses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.”
One man lost a valuable pocket watch while working in an ice house. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who had heard about the fruitless search slipped into the ice house during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch.
Amazed, the men asked him how he found it. “I closed the door,” the boy replied, “lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon, I heard the watch ticking.” Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough, and quiet enough, to hear.
DAY 2 – MAY 17
TITLE: “WHAT ARE YOU
KEEPING IN THE HEART?”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Key Verse: “Do not
let them out of your sight, keep them within your
heart;” Proverbs 4:21
This last Christmas, our oldest daughter, who lives in southern California, came to be with us for a few weeks. While she was here, she took on a big project. This was not a project that she thought of when she came. It was a project that had been planned for months. In fact, when we were down to visit her and Sharon’s folks in November, we came home with a car load of materials that were to be used in the project.
The project was to fix up our youngest daughter’s new bedroom. Amanda had decided that she was going to move downstairs. She had been talking about it with her sister, April, for months. They had planned the color they would paint the room, the light fixtures they would change, the pictures they would hang on the walls, the furniture that would go in there, and where Amanda would put things. When April came to visit in December, they started on this big project.
Most parents with more than one child have probably noticed that every child is different. That is no different in the Grinder household. Our oldest daughter is very organized and creative. She keeps things very clean and keeps nothing that she does not need to keep. As a young girl growing up, she was always cleaning and getting rid of things that she did not want or need anymore. Amanda is more of a keeper of things. She is not prone to toss things out. Perhaps you or someone in your home is also a collector of things.
When April started to help Amanda organize her bedroom, there was a difference in understanding of how that would look. For Amanda, it was “find room for all of the stuff” that she had collected. For April, it was “get rid of all the stuff” and keep only that which you really need to use and keep. Yesterday, my wife and I were talking about how we appreciated the influence of our oldest daughter on Amanda when it came to getting rid of stuff and keeping her room clean.
What do you keep in your heart? Are you a collector of things or do you keep your heart clean? The call of Proverbs is to keep in our hearts the truths of God’s word. What are you keeping in your heart? We are to keep our hearts clean, holding onto the truths of God’s word. There is no room in the heart for hurts of the past, bitterness, anger, hatred, envy, lust, hardness of heart or dishonesty. Is your heart filled with the right things or do you need God to do some heart cleaning today? Keep the truths of God’s word in your heart.
DAY 3 – MAY 18
TITLE: “BE CAREFUL
WHAT YOU FEED YOUR HEART”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
READING: Proverbs 4:23
Key Verse: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
John Flavel wrote these insightful words back in the 1700’s. He said, “Take heed of losing the liveliness and sweetness of your communion with God, lest thereby your hearts be pulled off from God. The heart is a hungry and restless thing; it will have something to feed upon. If it enjoys nothing from God, it will hunt for something among the creatures, and there it often loses itself as well as its end. There is nothing that more engages the heart to a constancy and evenness in walking with God than the sweetness which it tastes therein.”
John Flavel was speaking about the importance of what we feed or put in our heart. To guard our heart requires that we carefully consider what we allow the heart to feed upon. The junk food of the world will not result in a spiritually healthy heart. Be careful what you put in your heart. Make it a priority to keep your heart spiritually healthy.
Have you ever noticed someone in a grocery store looking at the ingredients in a product? Perhaps you are someone who looks at what is in a particular food product you are thinking of purchasing or eating. Information concerning fat content and calories can be very helpful in making wise choices concerning what we eat. But, how particular are you about what you put in your heart? The content of the movies we watch or music we listen to can impact the spiritual health of our heart. Guard what you listen to. Guard the heart by carefully choosing wisely what you allow to influence your heart.
There was an old Sunday school chorus that I used to sing when I was a child growing up. It challenged us to be careful. As you read some of the words of that chorus, think about what it means to be careful about what you allow your heart to feed upon.
O be
careful little eyes what you see; O be careful little eyes what you see.
There's a Father up above, And,
He's looking down in love;
So, be careful little eyes what
you see.
O be
careful little ears what you hear; O be careful little ears what you hear.
There's a Father up above, And,
He's looking down in love;
So, be careful little ears what
you hear.
O be
careful little hands what you do O be careful little hands what you do
There's a Father up above And,
He's looking down in love;
So, be careful little hands
what you do.
DAY 4 – MAY 19
TITLE: “IS YOUR HEART
RIGHT WITH GOD?”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Key Verse: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is
the wellspring of life.” Proverbs
4:23
The importance of the spiritual condition of the heart cannot be over emphasized. When I was young person growing up in the church, there were several hymns that were often sang at the close of a service. They were often used in conjunction with a call to search your heart and come to the altar and pray. Hymns like “Just as I am,” “Almost Persuaded,” “Pass Me Not,” “Jesus Is Calling,” “Room at the Cross for You,” and “I’ll Live for Him,” were familiar to me.
One hymn that probably personally impacted me most was a song called, "Is Thy Heart Right with God?" The text was written and the tune was composed by Elisha Albright Hoffman (1839-1929). Although never formally trained in music, he contributed more than 2000 gospel songs to various publications. Undoubtedly, his most famous hymn is "I Must Tell Jesus." Others include "Are You Washed in the Blood?," and "Is Your All on the Altar?" "Is Thy Heart Right With God?" was first published in 1899 with five stanzas. Take a few moments to search your heart today as your reflect on the words of this song.
Have thy affections
been nailed to the cross? Is thy heart right with God?
Dost thou count all things for Jesus but loss?
Is thy heart right with God?
Chorus
Is thy heart right
with God, Washed in the crimson flood,
Cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly, Right in the sight of God?
Hast thou dominion
o’er self and o’er sin? Is thy heart
right with God?
Over all evil without and within? Is thy heart right
with God?
Is there no more
condemnation for sin? Is thy heart right with God?
Does Jesus rule in the temple within? Is thy heart right with God?
Are all thy powers
under Jesus’ control? Is thy heart right with God?
Does He each moment abide in thy soul? Is thy heart
right with God?
Art thou now walking
in heaven’s pure light? Is thy heart right with God?
Is thy soul wearing the garment of white? Is thy heart right with God?
Chorus
Is thy heart right
with God, Washed in the crimson flood,
Cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly, Right in the sight of God?
DAY 5 – MAY 20
TITLE: “THE MOUTH”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Key Verse: “Put away perversity from your mouth; keep
corrupt talk far from your lips.”
Proverbs 4:24
Have you ever had a time when your mouth really got you into trouble? For most of us, the answer is yes. In fact, for many of us that answer is probably, “Many times.” Our mouths are filled with potential. James wrote these insightful words. He said, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” James 3:9-11
The proverb instruct us to, “Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.” Proverbs 4:24. The Apostle Paul gives similar instruction. He said, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29. The call of scripture is to take action. We are to take responsibility for the words we speak. Prayerfully listen to these instructions concerning the tongue from the book of Proverbs and ask God to help you apply them to your conversations this week.
Proverbs 15:7
Proverbs 18:7