Hello everyone. It has been great to return to the study and attend regularly. I have missed you all and I am so glad to be spending time with you all again.
This Friday I will be teaching the second half of Proverbs 4. We will be going over verses 20-27. I have included the questions here to help assist you in your study.
I want to remind you all again, that no matter how good the teacher is, there is no substitute for doing the reading and study yourself. The two go hand in hand. If you are able to do the study before hand, then we, as a group, can get much further and in-depth in our discussion. If you don't have time to do the entire study, just do what you can. Anything is better than nothing.
Proverbs 4.2
:20 -- My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
– Have you seen this expression elsewhere in Proverbs 4? What might that repeated pattern indicate? How would you paraphrase this expression?
:21 -- Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
– Can
you think of a real world example where you might use this
expression? Why, in your example, would you not want the thing or person to escape from your sight?
– How can we work to keep God's commands in our heart?
-- Read Deut 30:14. Why is the word in your mouth and heart?
– Matt 6:22 What does it mean
that the eye is the lamp of the body? What does this tell us about
what we look at?
:22 -- For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
– How does doing God's commands
bring healing and refreshment?
:23 -- Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
– What does it mean to keep your heart? How do you do this?
– What is a spring? What is different about a spring and
other water bodies like river, lake, etc.?
:24 -- Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
Solomon goes directly from the heart in verse 23 to speech in verse 24 – What does speech have to do
with the heart? Can you think of any verses that deal with this?
– If crooked speech
is coming out, what does this tell us about our heart?
–What does vs 24 mean
practically?
– James 4:1-2. If we are
fighting, what does this tell us about ourselves and our desires?
:25 -- Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
– If you are on the path of wisdom, what does looking
directly forward mean? What does this
have to do with our hearts? Our speech? What does wisdom from above
look like? Can you think of a verse that deals with this?
:26 -- Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
– If you are literally on a path, what might it mean to
ponder the path of your feet? This verse
calls us to ponder what? Is this a specific or general path?
:27 -- Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
– Turning to the left or right is
equated with what? So righteousness is what? Can activities that are good lead us astray? Can you think of any?