Keep On Keeping On

Proverbs 7:1: “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.” Today’s Episode: Keep On Keeping On When I was a kid, the old folks could send you on your way with four words: “Keep on keeping on.” Man, that sounded good. They wouldn’t need to explain it. There was encouragement tucked inside that little phrase. And now I catch myself saying it to somebody every now and then. Keep on keeping on. Proverbs 7:1 says: “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.” That’s the NIV giving us the picture of a father preparing his son to recognize sexual temptation before it carries him into somebody else’s marriage. Wisdom needs to be within reach before the invitation to go astray arrives. And Proverbs keeps on ‘coming back’ to “keeping”. Chapters three, four, six, and seven all tell us to “keep wise commands”. That’s at least four chapters returning to the same instruction. Apparently, hearing something once doesn’t mean we’re finished with it. We know that already. But you know we can hear a sermon on “being patient” on Sunday and be leaning on our horn by Monday morning. Lord, I received the word. It’s this traffic I’m having trouble receiving. “Keeping something” takes practice…you gotta ‘keep on’ doing it. Think about something you collect and treasure. Big shout out to all of my Comic Book Collectors out there, Efrem Smith, Rich Martin, Mark Helsel “Stand Up”! You collect the comic book. You return to it. You notice a detail you missed. You discover another piece that helps you appreciate what you already have. It’s work, but you don’t mind keeping on at it! Wisdom deserves that kind of attention from us all. Sometimes we pack a truth away so well we forget where we put it. It’s somewhere between that old church bulletin and the password we wrote down for safekeeping. But a stored-up command needs to come out into your life. Patience has to enter the conversation. Honesty has to reach the invoice. Forgiveness has to touch the name you still struggle to say without tightening your jaw. And every time you practice, you may discover something new inside a truth you thought you knew. Keeping on doesn’t mean never stumbling. Grace gives us room to return. Pick that wisdom back up. Let today teach you how to use it. Get full access to Hey Fred Lynch! at heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe