As the Apple of Our Eye

“My son, keep my words

    and treasure up my commandments with you;

keep my commandments and live;

    keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;

bind them on your fingers;

    write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’

    and call insight your intimate friend,

to keep you from the forbidden woman,

    from the adulteress with her smooth words.” (Proverbs 7:1-5 ESV)

Now, this isn’t just for men, but for women, too. We who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives are to have this kind of commitment to our Lord and to his commands. The New Testament teaches the same thing. We are to be those who keep (obey) the Lord’s commands and who treasure them in our hearts as though they are the “apple of our eye,” i.e. something to be treasured and to have a fond affection for.

And then I liked this part about binding the Lord’s teachings on our fingers, for in essence that is what the Lord has me do every day. For every day I write devotions and I use my fingers to type on my computer the words of the Lord and what he is teaching me through them, and what he would have me to share with you, my readers. And another thought that just came to mind is having his words like a wedding ring on our fingers, too.

And we are to write his commandments on the tablet of our hearts. For this isn’t just about writing down his words or reading them or even reciting them, but this is about us living his words in our daily lives. For, like the wedding ring symbolizes, we are to be faithful to our Lord Jesus, who is our spiritual husband, and we are to desire him above all else and want to do what pleases him. We will want to obey his commands (New Covenant).

And the New Testament under the New Covenant is filled with all kinds of commands that we must follow. All throughout the Bible verses we read about the things that we are to get rid of out of our lives and about the kinds of things we are now to put on in our lives, which we are to be living out in practice, by the grace of God, in the power and strength of God. Like we are to put away malice, lying, sexual immorality, etc. and put on love and faith.

I also like this part about saying to wisdom, “You are my sister.” I had two sisters. One is gone. One is still left. I had two brothers, too. One is gone and the other is left. I treasure those relationships with my sister and with my brother who are still living. And the whole point of this is that we are to have that fondness of affection for the wisdom of God as what we have for our physical sisters and brothers and intimate (close) friends. 

For, when we see God’s commandments and his teachings and his wisdom in this light, as the apple of our eye, and as close friends and family which we treasure in our hearts, then they will keep us from the “forbidden woman” who can be a literal prostitute or adulteress, or which can be a false teaching or a false gospel or false teachers who prostitute the word of God and who twist it to make it say what it does not say in order to tickle itching ears.

And this brought to mind two other Scriptures of the same thinking:

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’” (John 8:12 ESV)

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16 ESV – read through to verse 24)

And that really is the bottom line. For if Jesus is our all-in-all, and if he is Lord and Master of our lives, and if our desire is for him above all else, and if his teachings are “the apple of our eye,” then we will be those who obey the commandments of God (New Covenant) because we treasure them in our hearts, and so we want to obey them, because we love our Lord and we want to do what pleases him, because of all that he has done for us.

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/_dalMn-HEMQ 

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As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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