Nailing Down God's Word (Proverbs 4:21; Hebrews 2:1)

Proverbs 4:21 says, ''.. let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart..''

LET THEM NOT - is not passive, but active, in the sense of ''do not allow''.

DEPART - is a parallel to Hebrews 2:1, of not allowing God's word out of your sight. The Hebrew word, in this context, means to lose sight of something, or something being lost out of sight. The Greek word, is a nautical term, referring to the almost unnoticed, gradual movement, past a certain point, like a ship drifting slowly in water. The sense of the word, in both the Greek and Hebrew, implies the idea of neglect. [passive inattention, rather than active attention (to the word)].

The emphasis is on not allowing God's word to slowly drift out of our sight. How do you ''not allow'' something out of your sight , that is not visual, but verbal? (i.e., God's Word).

VEHICLES of VISION

The answer, is that words are vehicles of vision, that create pictures on the inside of us. The image or picture that is created within us, from God's word, must be constantly viewed, by further listening, until it becomes more detailed and intricate, dominating the whole of our thoughts and forming a picture of the way we see ourselves and our circumstances. [How we see ourselves and our present circumstances, will determine our behavior (faith)].

THE MIDST - of our heart, is the very core of our person. This is apparently an allusion to the kings of the ancient near east, including Israel, who had a secret chamber within their private rooms in their palace, that they could enter into, to hide from an enemy attack, or to seek solitude.

KEEP - is a word that speaks of guarding or protection. The word comes from the idea of ''fastening (down) with nails'', in order to keep something shut up.

1) It is significant that the word has an imperative sense in the Hebrew, expressing urgency and necessity.

2) It is also significant that the word conveys the connotation of continuing to do something.

Together, the words of this verse speak of not allowing the ''picture'' of God's word to leave our focus and continuing to ''see'' what God's word says, until that is the only way we ''see'' ourselves and our circumstances.

Positively, we ''nail down'' that visual image, as mentioned.

(1) It is imperative that we do this and

(2)continue to ''nail down'' the picture God's word portrays, until it dominates our thoughts in the very center of our being.

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours.