PROVERBS 7
My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbiddenwoman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.
– Proverbs 7:1-5
PROVERBS 7 KEEP GOD’S TEACHING AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When God’s people listen and heed to his truth
God’s words will fill up their hearts and will take root
Treasure what the word of God says and pursue wisdom
When you seek wisdom, insight will not be far from you
Follow the commandments so you may have a blessed life
Remember it and consume it so it will be stored inside your heart
Then you will be delivered from all those who plot evil
You will have insight and discern how to deal with them.
Solomon counsels us to treasure the commandments of the Lord and keep God’s teaching as the apple of our eyes According to Merriam Webster The idiom “apple of one’s eye” actually refers to the pupil of the eye. In ancient times, the pupil was believed to be a round, solid object comparable to an apple. Since the pupil is essential to vision, it was held to be something very precious. Thus, when you call someone the “apple of your eye,” you are telling them that they are cherished.
Deuteronomy 32:10, reads “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” Deseret.com says that a more literal translation of the Hebrew is actually “little man of his eye,” which probably refers to the reflection of oneself that one sees in the eye of another person. Thus, the phrase developed into “apple of one’s eye” and retained the meaning of something treasured.
REFLECTION
- Why do you have to keep God’s teaching as the apple of your eye?
