Proverbs, Chapter 3

There are more benefits of wisdom than just gaining access to God's plan in our lives. That is a fantastic benefit in itself because we are happiest when we are doing what God has planned for us. In Proverbs chapter 3 today we see some other tangible benefits from seeking wisdom. God offers this wisdom to us because He loves us. Imagine that for just a moment.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with my father. He is a man that has been walking closely with God for almost all of my life. He explained some things to me that I needed to hear since I had fallen away a bit in my walk with God. As he told me, not only is God still in the same place and never moves, He also loves us and wants us to come back to Him for wisdom. That love is never ending as well. It never goes away and we need only seek it if we want to find it.

 ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
       bind them around your neck,
       write them on the tablet of your heart.

 ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
       in the sight of God and man.

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;

 ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:3-6

When we think of binding something around our necks, it can be considered to be a burden. After all, this is how animals are handled when they are attached to plows. When we allow love and faithfulness to bind us, however, we can never go wrong. That love is God's love as promised above. There is not one thing ever wrong with God's love. The more of it we accept, the better. As we see here, we are taught to rely on His love and understand. It is when we begin relying on our own understanding that we begin to fall.

 ²⁵ Have no fear of sudden disaster
       or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

 ²⁶ for the LORD will be your confidence
       and will keep your foot from being snared. – Proverbs 3:25-26

I wanted to focus on these verses to end today's entry. Once again, this is a promise from God that He will always be there to love and care for us. Does this mean that our lives will be perfect without any adversity? No. We will still have to face things that go wrong. These things can be big or small, but they still happen. With God's love and wisdom, however, we have no reason to fear it. He will help us from being snared and paralyzed into inaction when we face these troubles. Again, this comes from relying on god instead of ourselves. It is when we begin to rely on ourselves that we take our first step toward failure.