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Proverbs 5:2 (NKJV) — 2 That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

The result of purposeful attention. The aim of the repeated appeal to be attentive to wisdom and understanding is that those who do this will regard discretion and their lips will keep knowledge. The proper attitude toward discretion and knowledge will come only to those who have first disciplined themselves to listen carefully to wisdom and understanding.

A person’s lips should keep knowledge, which implies the importance not just of knowing truth but of speaking it. The Book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about the significance of words. They can been a blessing or a curse, both to those who speak them and to those who hear them. (See 10:19; 14:23; 18:8, 21; 21:23; 26:20.) Many other books of the Bible address the same subject. (See Ecclesiastes 5:3; Matthew 12:36-37; Titus 1:10; James 1:26.)

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Proverbs 5:1 (NKJV) — 1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,

The need for purposeful attention restated. Repeatedly the Book of Proverbs appeals for purposeful attention. (See 2:2; 3:1; 4:20; 7:1.) This admonition emphasizes the necessity of a disciplined effort to grasp what might otherwise be overlooked. A New Testament parallel is the repeated invitation: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).

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Proverbs 4:27 (NKJV) — 27 Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

Follow the map. We are to follow the words of wisdom exactly, without improvising or looking for a shortcut. Holy Scripture is a divine, infallible, inerrant road map. It charts the precise course to life, spiritual health, joy, and heaven. Those who follow it will never be lost. Those who ignore it will never be saved.

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Proverbs 4:26 (NKJV) — 26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.

Look where you are going. We should examine the path we are taking. Where does it lead? Are there any obstacles to progress? Our ways will be established only as we give great attention to our path.

Ephesians 5:15 (NKJV) — 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,

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Proverbs 4:25 (NKJV) — 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.

Many temptations enter the heart (i.e., mind) though the eye-gate.

Job 31:1 (NKJV) — 1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?

Literal application of this verse can be a major step to victory over moral impurity. We must learn to submit our eyes and our other members to God.

Romans 6:12–19 (NKJV) — 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

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