Apply, Keep and Be Ready

Proverbs 22:17-19 (NIV)
17 Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise;
apply your heart to what I teach,

18 for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
and have all of them ready on your lips.

19 So that your trust may be in the LORD,

These verses could easily be put together into a three point sermon.  Here, let me do that for you . . . ;)

1. Apply

James 1:22 teaches us not to just listen to the Word, but apply it.  What’s the point of reading if we’re not going to apply it to our hearts?  Heck, I got issues!!!!  I need a band-aid and triple ointment sometimes.  That junk doesn’t work if you don’t apply it.

Let God work his mojo.  Filter what you read past your eyes and into the depths of your heart and its current condition.  It’s okay to be real with God.  Really, it is.

2. Keep

James goes on to say a man who _continues_ to read/apply the Word will be blessed (James 1:25).  Don’t be like the man who looks in the mirror and forgets what he looks like.  When you apply a verse to your heart, be sure to also keep it close. This is really when the essence of the verse (and God) will begin to soak into your life in a way that sticks.

3×5 note cards are dirt cheap.  Write the verse down.  Tape it to your steering wheel or something.  Figure out a place where you will be by yourself regularly for at least a few minutes a day.  That’s where you need to put the verse and marinate on it each day.

3. Be Ready

This is the fun part.  Be ready to share the verse with someone.  Or how God has used it to encourage you.  Seize any opportunity during the day or week. You will be amazed at the affects both in your life and in others.

God wants us to share the Good News!  So let’s have His Word “ready on our lips.”