Living Understanding Pt 21: Lean not
Proverbs 3:5-6 5Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. 9Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the First Fruits of all your crops; 10then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Isaiah 55:8-11 8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Lean not on your own understanding.
We live our lives more or less consistently following a set of rules. It is easy to grasp the intent of a red light at an intersection, or the purpose of an ATM, but we have a more difficult time with morality or social behavior. That’s the problem with rules and principles: They change. We are experiencing the decline of our culture. The so-called hard sciences are flourishing because they are defined by specific, determinable rules. Morality, on the other hand, has become relativistic; “I can do whatever I want as long as it is good for me.” That is utter nonsense of course, because we understand there are certain universally accepted truths: “Do not murder”, “Do no commit adultery”; that sort of thing.
God does not change. His precepts are consistent, invariable, and immutable. And all the 613 commands in the Bible are summarized by the two greatest commands:
37Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
The idea here is that the best life is guided by obedience and submission to God, not adherence to changeable rules. We all want to be wise in our choices, but we are not sure just what wisdom is. The fundamental basis of wisdom is obedience to God, because he loves his children much more than we love ours, he is consistent, and he will never abandon or forsake us. His principles and precepts reflect his character, so when we live our lives trying to please God in all we do we are wise in what we do. I have a friend who recently was faced with a dilemma when completing a form: She couldn’t decide how completely to answer the question. Her comment to me was, “I’ve got to show God he can trust me.” Then later she said, “Jesus is central to everything I do.”
Fear the LORD, shun evil, and honor him.
One of the ways pleasing God plays out in our lives is to fear the LORD, shun evil and honor him. Fear can mean profound reverence and awe. In this case fear refers to that emotion similar to dread. When you are in a court of law, you have a sense of fear because of the power the judge has over your life at that moment. God can change or end our lives with a puff of his breath, so fear of him should be very real. It motivates positive, wise living because we want to please him and live rightly. But that sort of fear comes into play only when we are rebelling against him. If we live our lives in profound awe of him, loving him, and shunning evil then things will go well for us.
10Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand….13For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:10, 13)
We have rational ability; we can make decisions based on information presented to us. But truly wise living rests on trusting God’s wisdom, not our own. This means avoiding snap decisions which are based on fallible human instinct but developing the habit of making God central in everything we do.
What about me?
We have to choose: Do we follow God or follow man? It seems clear to all who pay attention that man’s ways are ineffective. Sure, there is a certain degree of increased intelligence. We consider things normal and routine which would have been considered miraculous or even witchcraft centuries ago. But much has been lost. We have no moral standard anymore. If we claim to adhere to Godly values, we are labeled as intolerant and uncaring.
I don’t know why you are reading these posts. Maybe you are curious, or maybe seeking to understand the real truth. Maybe you are seeking peace and contentment in of your daily struggles. I know one thing for sure though: There is a God; he is good and just; his Son came to this planet to begin its restoration. Much about the Father I don’t understand, but I do know he loves me and he loves you. Take this moment to draw close to him. Talk to him. Let him know you love him and want to be closer to him. He will listen. He will help.