Hold and Guard

DEVOTION
PROVERBS
HOLD AND GUARD
Prov 4:13-17
13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. 14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. 16 For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. 17 They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
NIV
Seems pretty clear I am supposed to stay on the straight and narrow path which certainly is according to the instructions. If I do not know how to work some device correctly I usually find I have to read the instructions in order to know how it works. Granted the instructions do not get opened on many things, but still they all come with instructions for the correct operation. As I have been manufactured by God and since he has included a set of instructions for best operation, I think it is wise to read and operated according to the instruction. I should also keep the instruction book close and handy for quick reference from time to time, and guard it as well. If I lose this book of instructions it could cost me my life. Without it I would not know the correct operating procedures in order to obtain the maximum results for my life. I understand these instructions also include the standard warnings against possible harm if operated incorrectly. I have to make sure not to do that. I cannot afford to misuse my life. I cannot afford to cause myself harm, or eventually be destroyed by incorrect use. I must avoid the wrong use at all costs. I am sure there are all sorts of people I could associate with, and those who do evil are not the ones. I know so many good people, who do good things, and serve humanity in productive manners, yet if they do not know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, if they are not living according to the instruction manual, then unfortunately they are considered living according to evil ways, according to the ways of man, rather than God. I cannot live in the same way as they do. Although they may not actually cause harm to others, they ways are directed by human thought rather than Godly thought. It may not sound pleasing to them, but they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. I, on the other hand, must not, for I have read the manual and am aware of the instructions and have decided to accept and abide to the best of my ability to live accordingly. I will hold and guard it for dear life.