Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. (to young men): — The heart is never truly ours until we have given it away. Until we have put it in some hand, or laid it upon some altar, we never fully realise its possession, never feel its power, never know its capacities, never understand how profound are its wants, nor how sublime are its aspirations. No man can live an earnest, social, or spiritual life, and keep his heart unto himself. And sooner or later the heart will be given either to some purpose, or to some object, or to some idol, or to God. Because of this necessity in the heart to belong to some object, the clamour for it is great. The applicants positively throng up the path of life. Fashion is there, and Pleasure is there, and Fame is there, and Knowledge is there, and all that fascination and subtlety and loud-sounding promises can do they import into their appeals. But a voice of tenderness and authority speaks to us from above, "My son, give Me thine heart." This appeals to us by the simple majesty of right. God's right to the heart lies in this — 1. He created that heart. And His request tells us at once of God's right and of man's freedom. 2. He has bestowed, and is bestowing, continually upon it His care. Home and friendships, and the myriad bright hopes of life, testify that we have a Father in our God. God has been watching over your life, arranging with His wisdom and forethought and love the interests of your soul, and for all this care and anxious fatherhood, He asks this return, "My son, give Me thine heart." 3. He has provided redemption for it. We are not our own, we are bought with a price. In asking for the heart God asks for that which controls the life — for your love, your supreme love, your undivided love. God does not want your service without your heart. Reasons why your heart should be given to God now: (1) Because God alone can justify it. (2) Because of the ten thousand snares which it will save you. (3) Because the longer the gift is delayed the less probable is it that it will be ever given at all. Let it be a definite act; on your part a solemn consecration. (Henry Wonnacott.) Parallel Verses KJV: My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.WEB: My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways. |
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