From The Head to the Heart

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Gentlemen, every day is a battle. A battle for your faith, your family, and your purpose. The men who stand strong don't prepare when the battle arrives. They prepare before it begins. Welcome to the men's morning devotional. Let's get into God's word. It's time to man up.

Chris Alessi 0:26

All right, guys, it's Tuesday. Welcome back to the Men's Morning Devotional. My name is Chris Alesi. And again, I want to encourage you to keep sharing this podcast with some other men. We have been surprised, wonderfully surprised, at how many people are saying I'm sending it to a lot of my guys and they're loving it. And it's really blessing them. So we're loving the feedback. Keep sending it out there. We know it's going to be a blessing. Yesterday on Monday, we established the foundation of the week as we dive into Proverbs 7. We talked about a principled man being a man who really guards his wisdom. He guards the things that he has been learning. Today we're going to dive into the next verse, verse 3 of Proverbs 7. After the first two verses say the word keep three times, verse 3 says, bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart. After the first two verses tell us three different times, it uses the word keep. In verse 3, it says this bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart. So here's our man up moment for today. Wisdom written on your heart leads differently than wisdom sitting on your shelf. This term, bind them on your fingers or write them on the tablet of your heart. Solomon gives us two images here, and they actually work together. See, fingers are external, visible, practical, always in use. As I'm talking right now, I'm using my hands to talk. It's it's just it happens. Whatever's bound on your fingers is with you in everything you do and everyone you touch. Your work, your parenting, your conversations with people, the wisdom on your fingers shapes how you handle all of it. But then he goes even deeper. He says, write them on the tablet of your heart. The heart in Hebrew thinking isn't primarily just the seat of emotion, it's the seat of will and decision. What's written on your heart is what drives your choices when no one is watching. When you're tired, when the pressure's on and there's no time to think. It's the thing that's already there before your brain is really caught up. And so here's the honest challenge for most men. Most of us have wisdom in our heads that hasn't made it to our heart yet. We know what we should do. We've heard the sermons, we've read the books, we've listened to the podcasts. But knowing and being are two different things. Sometimes we say, if I know better, I'll do better, but we know that's not always the case. The man who has wisdom only in his head will abandon it under pressure. But the man who has it written on his heart, that man holds the line when it costs him something. I think of when David says in the book of Psalms, I have written your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. How do we get this wisdom and knowledge from our head to our heart? It's the same way anything gets written. Slowly, repeatedly, over time, through the daily disciplines of prayer, scripture, and honest self-examination. It's through relationship and community and doing life over the long haul. It's not something that happens one time. We have to write it every day until it's finally carved in. So here's your man up challenge for this week. Pick one piece of wisdom, one verse, one principle, one truth that you know in your head, but you haven't fully lived it yet. Guys, I know mine. I'm thinking about it right now, and I'm gonna write it down somewhere where I'll see it all week. I encourage you to do the same. Read it morning and night. Start the process of moving it from your shelf to your heart. Let's pray. Lord, we don't just want wisdom in our head. We want it written on our heart. We want it so deep that it shapes our decisions before we've even thought them through. Lord, write your truth in us. Bind it to everything we touch today. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

All right, gentlemen, you've heard God's word. Now go live it. Lead well, stand strong, honor God in everything you do. Share this devotional with another brother. Remember, every day is another opportunity to man up.