Dying To Self

“My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20-22)



Dying to Self
“My son, attend to my words;”

Webster’s defines “attend” as to “Be ready for service”. And that is exactly what it is here. God is saying be ready to serve Me, whatever I say. Don’t merely listen. Don’t just meditate, don’t just pray. But BE READY. Be ready for action. Just like Christ was ready to die for our sins. Be ready.

Think of a parking attendant. What do they do? Their job is to wait to be called. He/she is in a perpetual state of being ready to serve. When they are not actually serving they are waiting to be called to serve. Just those two states, nothing else. Jesus served by giving his life away for us. We are called to do the same. Even less than that. Most of us won’t have to die for our faith but the principal is the same. We must die to ourselves. That means putting our ‘agenda’ not only on the side but in the garbage. I don’t mean don’t plan your days or things you need to do. I mean let Him guide and direct you. Follow His way. Dying to self means when things go awry, you are not allowed to get upset. If you get upset at your circumstances you are not agreeing with God. You’re thinking your way is the way it should happen. Obviously, at least in that moment, it’s not the Lord’s way. This is very important. Dying to self shows reverence to God. Shows respect. Shows love. Shows TRUST.
When you make that choice, each and every day, EVERYTHING & I mean everything is vastly different in life, in your eyes.


“…consent and submit to my sayings”

Webster’s defines “consent” as: Voluntary agreement. OK, now here’s the tricky one. Here’s the one that can really get us into trouble. Dying to self is one thing. In other words, we can die to ourselves each and every day which is the will of God. However, when you include the word ‘voluntary’, it adds a whole new dimension that is not as easy as it looks & I think is sorely missed many times. You see, you can get to a point in your walk where you’ve submitted to God’s will for you. But we are asked to do more than just that. We are asked to do it voluntarily. That speaks to our attitude. Too many Christians walk around with no joy, especially in the middle of tough times. They have this ‘martyr’ look on their face. You ask them how they are & you get answers like “As good as can be expected” (when you figure out exactly what that means, please let me know!). It’s almost as if they think a positive attitude is not Christian like. That if they’re happy, they’re not honoring God. Christians are extremely guilty of this. They ‘don’t get their hopes up’ about anything. They are trying to do God’s will & be patient & fight the good fight. The problem is they go around looking like they lost the fight! Or that God’s will for them is bad!!! But the bible tells us numerous times to have a happy attitude, to not complain, to not mope. In stark contrast it tells us to rejoice in our afflictions!

Like I said many of us fall short of that part of the scripture.
Some of this is environmental. When you stop to think about it, our earthly world is SO opposite of God’s world. What I mean is that positive thinking is NOT generally pushed by our modern day society. Oh they talk a good game. Reality shows like Extreme Makeover are positive and inspiring. Oprah & Dr Phil and the like put out this message of doing good & improving from time to time. But overall the media focuses SO much on negative things. Tragedy almost always is the headlines, murder, violence, sex, depravity are all thrown at us at lightening speed in the course of any day. Quick fixes, pills, short cuts, are pushed. It’s so backwards that you see people in beer commercials having a ball. Magazines and radio have people displaying gambling as glamorous & fun. They’re actually trying to put a positive spin on the most negative things in life! I’m not saying never have a drink or go to Atlantic City but you get the picture. As a matter of fact, when there is a town or city in financial trouble, they sometimes suggest bringing in gambling as a positive answer to their problem! And everyone jumps on board like it’s the greatest idea ever! They have votes and really try to push it through. Honestly how good is that for a city?

So if things were different in our world, if positiveness was actually practiced and not just preached by the few, our attitudes would probably be better about this. But for whatever reason, it’s not. So we must be diligent and serious about this.

Think of someone who volunteers for something. If you’ve ever been a volunteer or worked at a place where you interacted with someone volunteering, they are usually cheerful people. They’re the people who are willing to do anything on the project, even the grunt work. They walk in with a smile on theiry face. They’re happy to be there. They are there for different reasons, not for glory, or prestige or pay. As such they usually carry themselves differently, don’t they?

So we MUST be vigilant about this. Friends, realize that we are not being obedient to God if we don’t have a good attitude. And when we meet the Lord, we will have to answer for this just as much as other things. We have to act from a source that knows & believes with all our being that God is working for GOOD in our lives, no matter what the outside says. If we have that believe & practice it day after day, it will be ingrained in us & we will be pleasing to the Lord! What a great goal to shoot for!


“Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.”

Webster’s defines center as- “thing that is most important or pivotal in relation to an indicated activity, interest, or condition”.

Consider the sun; a big, brilliant, bright star. It has 9 planets (oops I guess it’s 8 now that Pluto’s been demoted!). The planets revolve around it. If the sun didn’t exist who knows what or where the planets may be. It’s pivotal in relation to the planets. It’s the most important relationship to the planets, including our planet Earth. Or take the atom. The must important or pivotal part of an atom is the nucleus. It provides all the power. In the above quote, God is saying to keep His words in the center of our heart.
Webster’s defines heart as – “the essential or most vital part of something”. Our job is to keep God’s word in the most pivotal place of our most vital part of our life. This is very clear. God’s word should be kept as most important in the center of your life. That means your every thought, word, work, deed, action, way, EVERYTHING should be done from His most holy word.

Why? Because

“For they are life to those who find them,”

Webster’s defines life as – “The quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body”. I love that definition because it’s so describes how the Lord makes a difference in a person’s life. God’s Word is life. It gives you vitality & function. Without it you are like a walking, talking dead body. For those of you that have the Lord in your life, you know what I mean. If you don’t, I pray you’ll take a step towards Him. He’s dying for a relationship with you. As a matter of fact, He did die for a relationship with you. Yes, I know what you’re thinking and the answer is Yes! Even YOU!!

He’ll give you hope when you have none. Especially when no one around you is giving you hope. He’ll give you confidence and strength when you’re scared and weak. He’ll give you peace in the midst of the storm. He’ll give you endurance when you’re about to give up. When you’re wavering, He’ll give you conviction. When you’re wandering He’ll give you focus. When you’re sad He’ll give you joy. When you’re defeated He’ll give you courage. When you have an ego or are judging others, He’ll give you humility. When you’ve lost your drive He’ll give you motivation. Friends, if you exercise faith and strive to be obedient and follow his Word, he’ll give you glory and victory! That’s God’s promise! That’s the difference. That’s the life that He’s talking about in the scripture above. “For they are life to those who find them,”

“…healing and health to all their flesh.”

Webster’s defines health as: flourishing condition

If you had all the things mentioned above:
Hope
Confidence
Strength
Peace
Joy
Focus
Endurance
Conviction
Courage
Humility
Motivation
Faith

How do you think you’d feel physically? How do you think you’d feel emotionally? What would you go for in life? What would you try, do, be, become? How would your life be different? Just take a moment, close your eyes and picture what your life would look like. What kind of relationships would you have? What kind of friends would you have? What kind of job would you have? How would your relationship with your children and any youngsters or people in you circle of influence be? What kind of example would you be to others?

I’ll tell you what kind. You’d be a walking, talking servant for the Lord Jesus Christ. And people would want to know Him because you found Him and they see such a difference in you! Friends, attend to His words, consent and submit to his sayings. Die to yourself and your ways and be open to His ways and His opportunities. Keep Him close to you in good times and bad. He’s the one who’ll stick to you closer than a brother, no matter what. Because only then, can you truly live. Both here in this life and in the after life with Him giving glory to Him. Praise the Lord!

God Bless You!
To Him be the Glory!