"My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings"
Solomon is issuing a call to embrace wisdom rather than to follow what your own desires or others tell you. He has distilled the wisdom of horizontal relationships into these proverbs and on top of that, the inspiration of God is on him to do it. That which was wrong was left out and that which was right was put in. God saw to that.
This section that we enter at verse 20 switches from warning to specific instruction about each of the parts of your body that connect you to the larger world: mind, mouth, eyes, feet, body. It is as though Solomon is saying: Let me give you basic software instructions for how to use the hardware (your body) that you have received. Do this and don't do that.
Notice the “my son” portion of the proverb. He is calling the young student to make a choice. If you are going to learn from Solomon, this is not a sampler platter. It is either you become the obedient son of a wise father or walk away. Do not try and read through the proverbs and take what you like and discard what you don't. You have come to a master teacher – a spiritual father who is prepared to guide you into the most productive, impacting, wise, and alive life possible. But you must discard what is so common in our culture: the smorgasbord approach to learning – a little from over here and a little from over there. God's wisdom comes as a complete unit.
Are you prepared to accept God as your guide for all of life? In this case He is speaking through Solomon. Buy the whole package. Let the wisdom of God control every relationship in your life. Relate to God in a biblical way. Relate to your spouse in a biblical way. Relate to your family in a biblical way. Relate to your work in a biblical way. Relate to your church in a biblical way. Relate to your money in a biblical way. Relate to your friends in a biblical way. Relate to the society at large in a biblical way. Relate to your enemies in a biblical way. We have way too much of wanting to allow the Bible to control some little religious part of our lives but not guide us in the other relationships. This is what is meant by the Old and New Testament when Jesus says: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind and strength.” Every part of life is to be submitted to Him.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz