Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teaching as the apple of your eye (Proverbs 7:2).

Have you ever stopped to consider the phrase "Apple of one's eye?"  I've heard it plenty of times -- typically talking about a person who is really loved, really cherished, fully delighted in.  Like, "That little girl is the apple of her father's eye."  So I guess I've kind of known what the phrase means for awhile -- but if you really look at the phrase objectively, it doesn't make a lot of sense.  Apple of the eye?  What does that mean?  Why is an apple so precious?  And how exactly does an apple get to be in or of one's eye?  It's one of those phrases that actually feels more and more nonsensical, the more you think about it...

So when I read Proverbs 7:2's charge to "guard my teaching as the apple of your eye," I decided to figure out what that phrase is really supposed to signify.  Figuring that it occurred once in the Bible, in the Proverbs, I decided to see if the phrase was more common to biblical writing -- perhaps some idiom of the Hebrew language.  Indeed there are a couple of other references to the phrase, but not a lot; there's one in Deuteronomy 32 and one in Psalm 17.  As I researched the Hebrew version of the phrase, I learned that it might actually be more literally translated as "the little man of the eye" -- and in any event, it refers specifically to the pupil of the eye.  The most central, most delicate part of the eye.  The part of the eye which is essential for vision.  It is perhaps one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body, so it needs protection more than any other part of the body.  The tears, the eyelashes, the eyelids, extremely sensitive reflexes... and, of course, the facial muscles and the hands and the arms  -- think of all the different ways that you naturally protect your eyes.  We squint, we shield, we blink, we cover.  And then there are external aids like caps, glasses, goggles, and patches!

We may not think about it all the time, but we know what it's like to guard and protect the "apples of our eyes."

And this is the same level of care and vigilence that we are meant to give to the teachings of the Proverbs -- and to the teachings of the Bible, in general.  I know for myself, I certainly don't want to get the pupil of my eye poked or scratched or struck... But neither do I want my faith to be damaged or destroyed.  So I need to remind myself to guard the teachings of the Bible diligently, vigilantly.  Like the Apple of my Eye.