This morning I read Proverbs 23: 3,4 (NASB):
Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it,
When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
In Proverb's warning against pursuing wealth to the point of weariness, I was struck by the phrase, "When you set your eyes on it...." This passage is about mistaken priorities.
While we obviously have to earn a living, our eyes are to "be set" on God...and God only. Nothing else endures. Not wealth. Not health. Even our children will "make themselves wings", as they grow up and carve out their own lives.
In addition, nothing else will satisfy long term. Whether its wealth or health or people, all that this life holds will eventually disappoint...sometimes to the point of dispair.
But when we "set our eyes on" God, we're making an eternal investment. When we invest our time and energy in knowing Him, we're making a permanent investment. He promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
We're promised lasting satisfaction when we "set our minds on things above, not on the things that are on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). How do we do this? By "letting the word of Christ richly dwell within [us]." (Colossians 3:16)
Here are some practices that have made a difference for me in dwelling on His word:
- Spend extended time feasting on God's word first thing each morning so that the whole day is viewed through the lens of thinking His thoughts
- Post 3x5 cards with Scripture on them in strategic places
- Memorize verses, passages or even whole books of the Bible and meditate on them
- Listen to music with lyrics taken directly from Scripture
- Journal about God's word
Dwelling on Him,
Denise
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