TAKE HEED TO YOURSELF
"Take heed to yourself and to the Doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you." 1 Timothy 4:16(NKJV)
BIBLE READING: JOSHUA 23:11; MARK 4:24; LUKE 8:18; ACTS 20:28
One of the Most Important Truths many Christian believers often overlook is that the Lord God Almighty is always more willing than ever to enable and empower His Church. One of the Key Strategies that is absolutely essential for the accomplishing of this is His Readiness to deploy Authentic men who have undergone Genuine Transformation by virtue of spending Quality Time with Him, making them to become "a Pattern of Good Works..." (Tit. 2:7). What is now the Pivot around which the whole matter revolves is the Longing of God Himself as He counts on us to become the Gospel that we preach. It is universally known that people tend to emulate more of what they can see and relate with than what they hear.
When the Holy Bible admonishes us to hearken to ourselves and every other aspect of our lives, there is an extremely important reason for that. As stated in our Key Scriptural Text, the phrase "take heed" literally means "pay attention." This then begs the question: What are the different implications and applications of this Divinely Inspired Charge? Below are a few of the most important of them which we have a Divine Duty to comprehend and act upon:
We have a Duty to pay close attention to our thoughts: Our lives would always tend to travel in the direction of our most predominant thoughts (Prov. 23:7a). The bottom line here is that you are basically what you think. Hence, you are the sum total of your thoughts patterns.
We have a Duty to pay close attention to our words: Our thoughts are fundamentally our unspoken words while our words are in turn our spoken thoughts (Matt. 12:36-37). On this premise, we must have a necessity to realize that our words are packed with Extreme Power, be they constructive or destructive, and always have consequences attached.
We have a Duty to pay close attention to WHAT we hear: The onus lies squarely upon us as Christian believers to always carefully protect our ear gates (Mk. 4:24) for whatever you hear eventually enters into your life.
We have a Duty to pay close attention to HOW we hear: From the Holy Scriptures in particular and life in general, we can see that there's a big difference between WHAT you hear and HOW you hear. This refers to your interpretation, which is an expression of your perception (Lk. 8:18).
We have a Duty to pay close attention to ourselves: In this life, you may teach whatever you KNOW, but you can only reproduce whosoever you really ARE (Acts 1:1). Integrity basically has to do with becoming one with one's own words. In all sobriety, this is a major reason there is a serious need for us to become a living expression of whatever we proclaim. The Lord help us to become True Models of His Righteous Standards.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, we glorify You for the Grace You have given us to become Genuine examples in all things. O Lord, please help us to become a Pattern of Good Works so that the lost would be drawn to You by observing our lifestyles in Jesus' Mighty Name. Amen.