Whole-body Focus

Guard your heart above all else,

for it determines the course of your life.

Avoid all perverse talk;

stay away from corrupt speech.

Look straight ahead,

and fix your eyes on what lies before you.

Mark out a straight path for your feet;

stay on the safe path.

Don’t get sidetracked;

keep your feet from following evil. Proverbs 4:23-27

“DON’T TEXT WHILE DRIVING.” It’s the kind of instruction we give to our kids so they won’t end up in the ditch or worse. We want their full attention and focus to be on navigating the road ahead of them. Similarly, the father speaking in Proverbs 4 calls his son to pay attention to the path ahead so he won’t get lost along the way of life. If the son wants to have the full life that is available in God, he must orient his whole self in God’s direction.

The father works his way through numerous body parts that must be dedicated and disciplined in this direction: the heart must be guarded from worldly affections, the mouth can’t spew perverse talk, the eyes must be fixed on the prize of the upward call of God, and the feet must take him places where he will experience more of God instead of more of what the world offers. If we and our children are going to go after Christ, we can’t simply invite him along on the life we have charted out for ourselves. Christ must be our constant companion as well as our destination.

We are all vulnerable to having hearts that grow cold toward the things of God —mouths that talk in ways that diminish Christ, eyes that flit from thing to thing rather than focus on his Word, and feet that don’t follow in the footsteps of Christ. But the Bible calls us to deploy the entirety of our bodies in pursuing Christ by offering them as living sacrifices.

Lord, you have set out a course of life for ________. Keep him watchful for what would make his heart grow cold toward you. Fill his mouth with words of grace, and rid it of corruption. Fix his eyes on all you have promised, and keep him headed in your direction.