Proverbs 3 offers some practical advice to believers about how we should live our lives here;
5 TRUST IN THE LORD with ALL your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in ALL your ways SUBMIT TO HIM,
and HE will make your paths straight (or direct your paths)
These are well known verses but we need to heed them in our daily lives and not just go ahead in our own way, doing what we think. Proverbs 20:24 says the same thing in a slightly different way;
24 A person’s steps are directed by the Lord.
How then can anyone understand their own way?
We’ve been blogging in the Book of Judges, where Israel went through cycles of suffering under their enemies, until God sent them Deliverers, such as Samson. Their relationship with God was very unstable and very ON/OFF. When they had strong leaders who followed God, they walked in blessings, but once those leaders died they often reverted to walking in their own ways.
6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. Judges 17
Surely a sad verse, because Israel invariably suffered for doing as they thought.
New Testament believers have the Spirit of God living in us and He wants to help Direct our paths (Think about that, the Holy Spirit lives in us and wants to help us find God’s path for our lives). We will have to learn to know His prompts and it may take time, but it’s much safer and wiser to seek Him for His direction than rely solely on our own understanding.
7 DO NOT BE WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES;
FEAR THE LORD and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
The next verse continues in the same vein, ‘Don’t be wise in your own eyes’. We don’t realise how deeply we are influenced by this world and it’s people. Many believers, in conversation, repeat word for word what’s been broadcast on the latest news bulletins. We’re getting our counsel from corrupt media, which wants nothing to do with our wonderful Lord! The admonition of these verses is to ‘Fear the Lord and shun evil’. We need to be careful who and what we invite into our lives! It’s like we’re opening the door of our hearts and saying come right in here, you’re welcome. We should choose the Fear of the Lord in our lives.
A young American evangelist, Lester Sumrall, was invited to go to the home of Smith Wigglesworth in the North of England. Wigglesworth had seen a number of people raised from the dead through his ministry and innumerable miracles. Sumrall came to his front door with a newspaper folded under his arm, but Wigglesworth wouldn’t let him bring it into his house. He wouldn’t allow lies in his house only, the truth. So the first lesson the young American learned was not to bring the lies of the world into the man of God’s home.
Smith Wigglesworth also said, ‘he never prayed for more than half an hour, but he never went more than half an hour without praying.
We need to bring more of the Lord into our lives and keep the world out. It will make a big difference to our walk with the Lord.
God bless and keep you today.