Many of you know I’ve developed a Bible reading plan entitled “Necessary Food” based upon Job 23:12… Using it you read a passage from each of the five major divisions of Scripture daily: Old Testament History, Poetry, Prophecy, Gospels & Acts, and the Epistles. [If you’re interested in using this plan, contact me at leroybartel@gmail.com – it’s a free pdf]
All of that to say, it doesn’t happen often, but yesterday’s Bible readings all seemed to focus, illustrate, and apply one key verse from my reading in some way! Here it is (with a brief comment on each of the readings)…
The key verse from the reading in Proverbs 4:20-27? “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow all the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23)
Then here’s a brief comment applying that principle for each of the passages…
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25: If King David would have heeded this principle he would not have fallen into sin with Bathsheba and plotted the death of her husband, Uriah to cover it up.
Daniel 4:19-27: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, if he had guarded his heart vigilantly, would have avoided the humiliation he experienced because of pride.
John 4:27-42: Jesus exemplified the truth of the Proverbs principle after His disciples urged him to eat after He had prioritized a saving conversation with a sinful Samaritan woman. He declared to them, “I have food to eat that you know not of!”
1 Timothy 6:2b-10: “Keeping (guarding) your heart with all vigilance” will safeguard an individual from falling prey to the deceptions of greed and materialism!
Doesn’t always happen this way, but THE KEY LIFE PRINCIPLE OF PROVERBS 4:23 IMPACTS “ALL THE SPRINGS (i.e. the dimensions and issues) OF LIFE!”
Coffee With The Lord 