Wisdom’s instruction is to:
Guard what has been entrusted to you
Give yourself to God
Give your best to God
1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 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 submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 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. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine (Proverbs 3:1-10 NIV).
Guard What Has Been Entrusted To You
The Word is an internal resource that corrects, protects, and directs your daily interactions and decisions. The instruction from the Word keeps you on the right path.
Verse 2 says that if you do this then the quality of the days and the years of your life will increase exponentially. Life = hayyîm, refers to abundant life that comes out of fellowshipping with the eternal and living God.
To be satisfied refers to having peace = shalom is more than the cessation of hostility. Shalom… is the gift of precious well-being filled with inner contentment, delight, joy, and pleasure as a gift from God.
“When Christ is our life, we can live wisely in our daily experience and find peace.”
We can rest our heads on our pillows each night, knowing that we are reconciled to God through Christ, that our salvation is secure and that we are living in obedience to God’s Word and God’s will.
God's loving kindness denotes a persistent and unconditional tenderness, kindness, and mercy towards us - in short he is talking about God’s faithful love towards us.
“Truth speaks about God’s covenantal faithfulness.”
Don’t forget how He saved you, the price He paid to make your redemption possible, all that you have in Christ verses which is far more than you will ever have in this Word and all that you have to look forward to.
Don’t lose sight of who made these promises to you and who has guaranteed your eternal life. Tie these truths around your neck and engrave them on your heart. This means making these truths your own, letting your motivation to do the will of God come from the heart. Let these teachings become a part of your very nature.” By “binding” and “writing,”the father is saying,
“let God’s truth - God’s faithfulness and loving kindness be what defines you and directs you.”
Let this be who you are and what you express to others so that they may place their hope in the Lord.
The Apostle Paul said to the church in Corinth,
You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3).
Give Yourself To God
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5).
The word trust is a picture of a man totally stretched out on his face before God. His posture reveals his total helplessness and dependence upon the Lord.
In Matthew 26:39 it says that even the Lord Jesus, the night before he went to the cross, "fell on His face, and prayed ... not as I will, but as You will." Jesus not only completely trusted His Father in total dependence on Him,
“His whole purpose was to do the will of the Father.”
Throughout Proverbs, wisdom is calling us to place our ultimate trust in the Lord, to place our full weight on Him, putting our lives into His hands and renouncing any trust in ourselves, in our own wisdom, insight, reasoning, intellect. It means renouncing any trust in our own strength, people, in our possessions or money.
God promises that whoever places their trust in Him will be secure, no matter how uncertain the future is. Wisdom is telling us that we can give ourselves completely into the hands of a sovereign God, who is in absolute control.
When we do, we will experience the peace of God - that peace which reassures the heart, that transcends all understanding, that peace which stands guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).
In every decision “invite God in and get to know Him.” This reflects the intimate experience of a personal relationship. What does this mean?
It means seeking His will and ways: “God, here is my schedule, my plans, my responsibilities, my situation, my cares, concerns, needs, thoughts, opportunities. All that I am and have is yours.
I will remain totally dependent on you to direct my steps. It is in that place where God will guide you as we see in
He will make your ways straight (Proverbs 3:6).
“Straight” here is in the present tense which describes a continuous action. It literally describes cutting a road through difficult terrain to make a straight path, making the rough places smooth in (Isaiah 42). This way often includes hardship and suffering, as well as prosperity and pleasure. It means that when we have truly submitted our will to God, He will bring us through the most difficult situations imaginable.
When you trust the Lord and completely give yourself to Him, you can be certain He will never lead you astray, He will test you but never tempt you or lead you to compromise your convictions.
When you trust in and rely confidently on the Lord, acknowledging and seeking His will in every decision, the amplified version tells us that He will remove every obstacle that blocks your way.
How many decisions have we made out of anxiety, fearing that God will not answer our prayers or that He doesn’t really have the best plan for us? How many times do we act on our own gut instincts or react to circumstances without even talking to God first?
When we go after something and haven’t consulted God, we may attain our goal but many times it ends up bringing grief to our souls. But Proverbs 10:22 tells us that the blessing of the Lord brings [true] riches, and He adds no sorrow to it [for it comes as a blessing from God] (AMP).
God wants us to trust Him with all of our heart for the right person, for the open door for the workplace, for the promotion we have been waiting for. His Word tells us that promotion doesn’t come from the east, west, or south - it comes from the Lord (Psalms 75:6). Do we believe this or is it difficult to fall on our faces before the Lord, give our lives to Him and say, “not my will but yours, Lord”?
Therefore, Solomon tells his son in vv. 7-8 ,
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil. It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts] And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones (Proverbs 3:7-8).
Give Our Best To God
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).
This is an area where we need to trust God with all our hearts because whether it is money or spiritual gifts or talents, it is easy to rationalize the things we do with our resources and call it honoring God. As we see at certain points in their history, the nation of Israel was obeying the law by bringing their animal sacrifices and grain offerings to the priests.
To acknowledge God in all our ways is to see everything we have as a gift from God, including all we possess.
This includes giving Him the best of all our increase, and not selfishly hoarding our possessions but generously using them in His service. God wants us to use His gifts in His service for others, not for our own selfish pursuits and gain. We want /how we give and/ what we give to honor Him.
We are to use money and love people, not love money and use people. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.
Our greatest example of giving is God himself. He gave us the gift of eternal life which didn’t cost us anything but cost Jesus everything. God gave us His first fruit - His best, His one and only perfect, blameless Son so that we could have life. Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor to that by His poverty He could make you rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
“Jesus spared no expense.”
Guarding what has been entrusted to us, giving ourselves to God, and giving our best for God is what wisdom calls us to do and this is a great reward.
Don’t we want our lives and resources to reach others beyond our small existence? Don’t we want our church to be used for God’s eternal purpose? Because ultimately, what is our chief end or purpose on this earth? Isn’t it as the Westminster shorter catechism states? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Isn't this Wisdom’s reward?
When we invest our lives for the sake of the gospel we will reap a great harvest. Jim Elliott, the young missionary martyred for his faith said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
“We may not see the harvest in this lifetime but we will for all of eternity.”
