20 My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forwards,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
The message that these verses impress upon the mind is surely that the price of continuing victory, and indeed of any kind of balance, in spiritual life is continuing and unceasing vigilance. The all-round nature of this vigilance is underlined by the reference to the various parts of the body - ear, eyes, heart, mouth, feet. This reminds us of Paul's famous appeal in Romans 12:1, 2, to present our bodies a living sacrifice. Here, the writer spells out the meaning of such a consecration. Paul of course meant that our whole being was to be dedicated to God. But the reason he used the word 'bodies' is that the business of consecration is to be a reality, not a theory. God has no time for a 'disembodied' consecration. Consecration in principle is not enough. The following words by Chrysostom make the point well: 'How is the body to become a sacrifice? Let thine eye look on no evil thing, and it hath become a sacrifice, let thy tongue speak nothing filthy, and it hath become an offering, thy hand do no lawless deed, and it hath become a whole burnt-offering. But this is not enough, we must do good works also; let the hand do alms, the mouth bless them that despitefully use us, and the ear find leisure evermore for the hearing of Scripture. For sacrifice can be made only of that which is clean, sacrifice is a first fruit of other actions. Let us, then, from our hands, feet, and mouth, and all our other members, yield a first fruit unto God'.