Proverbs 4:1-4. 1Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, 2for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. 3When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, 4he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.
Solomon wants his children to be wise. He wants them to hear him, to be attentive to him, and not forsake his teaching. Solomon remembers how he was taught by his father, King David, and now he is passing that wisdom down to his own children. A wisdom that is not merely about finding success in life, but about finding life itself – keep my commandments and LIVE.
Proverbs, like all wisdom literature, presents life as a journey along a path. But what is the destination? Life. Life is a journey to life? Yes. The path of life is meant to lead us to God, to flourishing, from slavery and exile back to the promised land. But only if we hear, pay attention to, and do not forsake the father’s instruction, precepts, and teaching.
The irony, of course, is that Solomon himself did not listen to his earthly father’s instruction. Nor did he listen to his Heavenly Father. He did not hold fast to the commandments of God. God said do not amass great wealth, do not build great armies, and do not take many wives. Solomon did all those things anyway. Though his life was full with many things and with much knowledge, Solomon lived a life of futility. As Ecclesiastes shows us, the great king lived a vaporous life.
In Christ we are never meant to live a vaporous, meaningless life. Yes, everything earthly is here today and gone tomorrow, but not Christ. And not Christ’s life in us. He is eternal, and so now are we. Jesus offers us life beyond life if we hold fast to him. His commandment is simple – believe in me.
John 11:25. Whoever believes into me, though he die, yet shall he live.
You may recall that in Greek there are three words for life. Belief into Christ does not give us bios (body life) or psyche (soul life), we already have those. Believing into Christ gives us zoe (spiritual life), God’s own divine life as the source of our new eternal life in Christ.
Christian, this changes everything!
We aren’t promised eternal life stuck in the same bodies and souls that we have now – that would be hell. We are promised an eternal life that is joined to Christ’s own life, much like his life is joined to the life of the Trinity.
Without this shared zoe life we would never be able to keep our Father’s commandments and live. Only by the Spirit of life in us could we ever hope to hold fast to the word of God. Why? Because we need the Word of God to live in us before we could ever live by the word of God. We need a new heart. A new desire. A new affection. A new power to love as Jesus loves. And that is exactly what you have in Christ.
You: When you consider eternal life what comes to mind?
You in Christ: Are you on the path of Christ’s life by simple belief in him?Are you in Christ?
Christ in you: Where has your faith been challenged lately? How can you hold fast to your faith in Christ today?
Pray: Father, I want to listen to you and hold fast to your commandment to simply trust my savior Jesus. Amen.
To Live is Christ 