Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

Proverbs chapter 2 gives a wonderful outline of the book of Proverbs. Chapter 1 gave us the purpose of the book of Proverbs and here in chapter 2 God is going to express how he is going to accomplish this in the lives of his children. You will notice to begin with that it is all a matter of the heart. It begins with God's heart! God does not begin with our heart because that would lead to failure. He begins with, "My son". He speaks to us with a heart of the perfect father who loves and desires to care for His children. Ladies, do not mistake the word "son" to exclude you. Many times in the word of God the masculine is used to express inclusiveness of male and female. By this I mean that God is speaking to each individual, not just to each male individual. If it helps, you can understand this as, "My child". So you see, this all begins with God speaking to you and to me personally and individually with His love.

Please do not miss this or you will begin chapter 2 simply feeling like the conditions are something that you are meant to accomplish in your own strength, instead of understanding that it is God that purposes and promises that these things can and shall be true in your life, if your heart so desires! And this is where our heart comes in. As we look into the upcoming verses you will notice that the word "if" is repeated three times. So much of what God wants to accomplish in our lives is simply subject to "if". What this demonstrates is that God will not make you say "yes" to him. Understand that God will not force you to let Him love you. He does love you, but he will not force you to enter into a loving relationship with Him. It is His desire that each of us say "yes" to His will and His love for us. However, the choice is yours. As we begin to understand this wonderful chapter, understand from the outset that God loves you, and He desires that you would enter in to this love!