Proverbs 3:9-12 says,...
Today's verses are Proverbs 3:9-12, which read,
v.9, 10 - Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Here is a list of what we are to do. Do not forget God's teaching and keep His commandments. Do not let kindness and truth leave you but bind them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge God. Do not be wise in your own eyes but be in a healthy fear or spiritual respect of awe of God and therefore turn from what He calls evil.
Now we add another to the "to do" list. Honor the Lord with what He has given to you. Even if you feel like you don't have much, God tells you to take what comes in first to make that gift before all else. The example given is an agricultural one but you get the picture of the farmer taking the first bushel of wheat to the temple as an offering to God and then living off of the rest that come after it.
This is a very important principle to live by. Do you take and give God the "first fruits" of your harvest of work? When the provisions come in for your daily living, do you turn and first think of Him to give a gift of thanksgiving of what He has given to you? Many of the bad financial situations that we get ourselves into is because we have not factored our giving to God into our decisions first.
This biblical view of wealth protects us from greed and overspending. It helps us to be more productive with what we have left to use. It guards us from being selfish. This principle is for all of us no matter where we are on the wealth spectrum. Jesus didn't stop the widow from giving her two little copper coins. We all need to realize that giving to God is a part of the wisdom of God that keeps us from being fools.
v.11, 12 - My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
If you are a parent, you understand this proverb very easily. You have a child in front of you that you love dearly. They are doing something they shouldn't be doing and that something if not corrected could lead to other wrongs. Out of love, you discipline the child to show them the godly way God wants us to live. You show them this so that they have an example to follow that leads to all these benefits of the wisdom of God. You show them with your very life because of the love you have for them. It is hard at times because we fear they will not like us but if you are a good parent, you will push past that to place the facts of the matter over the feelings you have at the time.
If you are the recipient of the discipline and reproof or correction, you may not like this course correction but consider the source. Does the source love me? Does the source provide for me? Does the source have my interests in mind? Does the source want the best for me? Does the source see more than what I see? God is our source in this proverb to His beloved children.
God disciplines His children. God corrects them. Why? God loves them. God loves you. If He is disciplining you in an area that needs correction then accept it as something done out of love for your benefit. It is not to make your life worse but rather better. It is most likely not the easy or comfortable thing to do and the mess you got yourself into will have consequences that will be felt for a while or for a lifetime but God has sent down the rope for you to grab a hold of.
Grab a hold of God's rope. He will pull you back up to where you are suppose to be to follow after His "to do" list of wisdom again. We most likely have stopped doing something on the list to get ourselves in the pit we are in. Just as children come around to thank you for godly instruction and direction later in life, we will also be thankful for God's wisdom given that keeps us glorifying our Creator. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for the provisions You have provided. May we not forget the source of those provisions and pattern our lives to reflect where they are coming from. Lord, continue to show Your love to us but disciplining and correcting us and letting down that holy rope. May we grab on knowing again that there is no greater wisdom than that which comes from You. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.9, 10 - Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Here is a list of what we are to do. Do not forget God's teaching and keep His commandments. Do not let kindness and truth leave you but bind them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart. Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge God. Do not be wise in your own eyes but be in a healthy fear or spiritual respect of awe of God and therefore turn from what He calls evil.
Now we add another to the "to do" list. Honor the Lord with what He has given to you. Even if you feel like you don't have much, God tells you to take what comes in first to make that gift before all else. The example given is an agricultural one but you get the picture of the farmer taking the first bushel of wheat to the temple as an offering to God and then living off of the rest that come after it.
This is a very important principle to live by. Do you take and give God the "first fruits" of your harvest of work? When the provisions come in for your daily living, do you turn and first think of Him to give a gift of thanksgiving of what He has given to you? Many of the bad financial situations that we get ourselves into is because we have not factored our giving to God into our decisions first.
This biblical view of wealth protects us from greed and overspending. It helps us to be more productive with what we have left to use. It guards us from being selfish. This principle is for all of us no matter where we are on the wealth spectrum. Jesus didn't stop the widow from giving her two little copper coins. We all need to realize that giving to God is a part of the wisdom of God that keeps us from being fools.
v.11, 12 - My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
If you are a parent, you understand this proverb very easily. You have a child in front of you that you love dearly. They are doing something they shouldn't be doing and that something if not corrected could lead to other wrongs. Out of love, you discipline the child to show them the godly way God wants us to live. You show them this so that they have an example to follow that leads to all these benefits of the wisdom of God. You show them with your very life because of the love you have for them. It is hard at times because we fear they will not like us but if you are a good parent, you will push past that to place the facts of the matter over the feelings you have at the time.
If you are the recipient of the discipline and reproof or correction, you may not like this course correction but consider the source. Does the source love me? Does the source provide for me? Does the source have my interests in mind? Does the source want the best for me? Does the source see more than what I see? God is our source in this proverb to His beloved children.
God disciplines His children. God corrects them. Why? God loves them. God loves you. If He is disciplining you in an area that needs correction then accept it as something done out of love for your benefit. It is not to make your life worse but rather better. It is most likely not the easy or comfortable thing to do and the mess you got yourself into will have consequences that will be felt for a while or for a lifetime but God has sent down the rope for you to grab a hold of.
Grab a hold of God's rope. He will pull you back up to where you are suppose to be to follow after His "to do" list of wisdom again. We most likely have stopped doing something on the list to get ourselves in the pit we are in. Just as children come around to thank you for godly instruction and direction later in life, we will also be thankful for God's wisdom given that keeps us glorifying our Creator. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for the provisions You have provided. May we not forget the source of those provisions and pattern our lives to reflect where they are coming from. Lord, continue to show Your love to us but disciplining and correcting us and letting down that holy rope. May we grab on knowing again that there is no greater wisdom than that which comes from You. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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