Proverbs 4:13
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Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
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You may never face drowning at sea; but you will face drowning in the sea of life, when the storms of a sinful world come against you. Only by keeping instruction will you be able to survive the storm. The Lord instructs us by parents, pastors, and His Word. Have you grabbed hold of this teaching to save your life (3:18,22; Eccl 7:12; Deut 32:45-47)?
Our proverb teaches us how to listen to instruction. We must grasp with understanding what we hear and not let it slip away. The instruction of wisdom is what will save us from the perplexities and dangers of life. We must hold it tight and not let it go. We must retain what we learn. Don't sell it for any price (23:23)! See the comments on 3:1.
Jesus described good hearers as those who took His sayings and built their lives on them (Matt 7:24-27). He told of two men, one who built his house on the sand, one who built his house on a rock. The storms of life destroyed the house built on sand, but the one built on a rock easily withstood the storm. What do you do with instruction, dear reader?
How much have parents and pastors taught you over the years? How much of it have you retained? Or is most lost and you need to hear it again? Do you make the same mistakes over and over again? Can you quickly and easily apply previous teaching to situations you meet in life? Can you defend what you believe? Here is our lesson: your life is dependent on your retention and application of the instruction you are given.
When you take fast hold of instruction, you fasten it in your grip. It cannot get away. You secure it in your mind in such a way you will always have it. You are committed to learning from your teachers, and you are committed to not forget their words of wisdom. Do you prove, review, and reflect upon teaching? Do you analyze and meditate upon it until it is part of your very soul and being? If not, why not? It is for your life!
Why must parents, pastors, and other teachers use so much repetition? Most hearers are lazy, stubborn, and easily distracted. They do not appreciate instruction, and therefore they do not make the effort, or take the steps, necessary to keep it. Effective learning requires attention, submission, retention, and application. See the comments on 12:1.
Reader, do you love to be corrected and told how to live? Measure yourself by this question. For this is instruction! It is rules by which you can save your life. But they only benefit those who retain them. It is for your life! Love correction and instruction!
Instruction is a great blessing from heaven, for great masses of men have been left without it by the sovereign judgment of our holy and jealous God (Ps 147:19-20; Is 44:9-20; Matt 10:6; 15:24; 13:9-18; II Thess 2:9-13). We say God's ministers have beautiful feet for the instruction they bring us about eternal life and our duties to God (Rom 10:15).
All churches today would hold perfect apostolic doctrine, if church members had held fast the instruction they were given by the apostles! But men let those precious things slip away to where there are thousands of errors taught today in the name of Christianity. The warning had been given clearly (II Cor 11:3-4; I Thess 5:21; II Thess 2:15; Jude 1:3).
If falling away from Old Testament truth brought judgment, how much more will falling away from New Testament truth (Heb 2:1-4; 10:26-31; 12:25-29; Rev 2:14-16)? Since our Lord Jesus alone had the words of eternal life, have you retained them (John 6:68)?
Jesus said those who are given much will be accountable for much (Luke 12:47-48). If you have been blessed with godly parents and pastors, you will be judged according to this blessing of instruction. Have you retained and kept it for the salvation of your life?
"Grab the lifeline, and don't let go! You can make it! You can live!" If you were drowning at sea, would you obey these words from a sailor in a rescue boat? You would, for the consequences of not obeying would be certain death. You would, for holding a line is a very cheap price to pay, and easy effort to make, to save your life.
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