Sunday, August 7, 2016

Aug. 7 - Prov. 7

My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭7:1-3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:9-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What does it mean to internalize the Word of God; to keep the commands and guard them in our hearts? How do we make God's teachings and commands as the apple of our eye?

As young priests in training, Levite boys would write each of the Ten Commandments on small pieces of parchment, one command per piece. They would wrap each piece around a finger and tie them with leather straps, creating a kind of "Word of God gloves." They weren't very effective against the cold, nor were they practical when it came to working with their hands, but they memorized the scripture in the process.

Hundreds of years later there was a group of early Christian monks that took these commands literally. They would painstakingly copy portions like the Ten Commandments on a parchment or papyrus scroll, then eat the words one-by-one. While the taste in their mouths wasn't exactly the best,  and their digest system eventually dealt with the chewed pieces, they invested time to make them, and in the process they memorized the words of scripture.

While I'm not sure that I agree with the ancient means that I mention above, I do agree that we need to spend time enough in the Word of God so that the Word gets into us. That's the goal of reading, studying and memorizing the Word. That's why we should strive to make this a daily practice, not only because we know that it will bring life and learning, but also because it can become our delight and pleasure - the "apple of our eye."

No comments:

Post a Comment