| Proverb Plus |
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| Written by Bryan Riley | |
| Tuesday, 30 January 2007 | |
kids science fair experimentsProverbs 23:17 - "Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord."There it is again. The fear of the Lord. But what is it? We know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Proverbs 1:7. We also know that the fear of man will prove to be a snare. Proverbs 29:25. Furthemore, blessed and refreshed is the one who trusts God and cursed is he who trusts in man. Proverbs 3:5-6; Jeremiah 17:5-14; Proverbs 1. Fearing God means trusting Him. It means knowing who He is, placing your trust in Him, and worshiping no other God. God is the only one worthy of praise and worship. He is worthy of our respect, awe and complete devotion. If we place anything before Him priority wise, we do not properly fear Him and will be placing ourselves into a growth opportunity. Just as God tells us to ask for wisdom, James 1, ask Him for help trusting and fearing Him. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and we can ask for His grace to do this. We love you. Grace and peace to you. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths ." Proverbs 3:5-6. Why do we struggle so with finding rest in this world? Is it because we are so much busier today than at any other time in history? I doubt it. Sure, we may seem busier today, but if you take away our technologies of convenience and speed, putting us back on our feet to walk everywhere, forcing us to work more with our hands to cultivate our food and make whatever we need to live, you suddenly realize that people of the past were just as busy as we are, if not more, but they simply had to do different things to occupy their daily lives than we do. If anything, we are less busy today, more bored, and occupy our time with things that have more potential for harm. You would think with all of our leisure time we would be more rested than any generation in history; instead, we are suffering from a myriad of mental and emotional illnesses while seeking any and every thing to entertain ourselves. Hebrews 3 and 4 make it clear why we fail to rest. In verse 19 of chapter 3 it says "they were not able to enter [his rest] because of their unbelief." Because the generation of Israelites who left Egypt's slavery failed to believe God's promises, i.e., they failed to trust in the Lord with all their hearts, they wandered in the desert for 40 years and were not granted access to his rest in the promised land because of their unbelief. This factual history also is a great word picture of the spiritual reality that when we doubt God we cannot enter into His rest as described in Matthew 11:28-30 by Jesus. If you are interpreting scripture based on your life experience rather than simply believing that God is who He says He is; that is, if you are leaning on your own understanding and experience rather than believing His promises, expect to have an anxious heart that seems unable to rest. As you find yourself needing that "drug" of choice, whatever it is, that is less than the meat of His word, the truth of His spirit, and the power of His gospel, ask God to search your heart with the sword of His word to see if there is any offensive way in you. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 31 May 2008 ) |
