Discipleship Response
Proverbs 7:2
Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
As a follower in Christ, I am the Apple of God’s eye and I keep God’s Word as the apple of my eye.
Pondering Point
Yesterday, we heard that God regards us as the apple of His eye. Today we are called to regard His Word, His commands and teachings as the apple of our eye. It is to be guarded and protected at all costs, even at the cost of our way of doing things. Like the pupil of the eye, God’s Word provides vision, essential to a healthy spiritual walk in this world. Do not let its place be compromised in your life. Let’s review the place of God’s Word in your life from the “apple of your eye” perspective.
Review
Do you view God’s Word as essential to your life? Do you seek to protect it against attacks from the world, from the devil and from your own fleshly desires?
Repent if Necessary
Repent of treating God’s Word as non-essential. Repent (if necessary) of relegating His word to a status lesser than the world’s voice or even your own.
Return as Necessary
Return God and His Word to its rightful place in your life (primary) and then commit to protect it as you live your life to His glory.
Nouwen once asked Mother Teresa for spiritual direction. He was dealing with a number of problems in his soul and sought her wisdom…You know what she said?
"Well, when you spend one hour a day adoring
your Lord and never do anything which you
know is wrong... You will be fine!"
So, so simple. Two very straightforward practices. Just take an hour a day to enjoy God. Oh, and don't do anything you know is wrong. So before you write me off and go back to your noisy life - and, I might add before you write off Mother Teresa, Henri Nouwen and Jesus, who hopefully carry more weight than yours truly -- just think about what's at stake. When we don't practice this Jesus soul habit, we reap the consequences:
• We feel distant from God and end up living
off someone else's spirituality
• We feel distant from ourselves
• We feel an undercurrent of anxiety that rarely if ever goes away
• We get exhausted
• We return to our escapes of choice
• We become easy prey for the tempter
• Emotional unhealth sets in.
~ J.M. Comer, Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, pp. 136, 137 adapted