Title: Proverbs 3
By: Todd Bevins
Intro
Turn you Bibles to Proverbs, chapter three. I was thinking about the uncertainty of life. There is not very many weeks will go by that I don’t think about a good friend of mine. It has been a year or so now. I will go by the place where he had passed away and think about it. I see pictures of him. I think, he was a lot younger than I. We started a small business together, years ago. He was a good friend, a good person. It is just hard to imagine sometimes.
It's funny what got my mind thinking on it was what Joseph had said. Sometimes, we say, they died way too young, or they died prematurely. No. They died when they were supposed to die. We don’t understand it. We can’t wrap our minds around sometimes. The thing that brings more peace than anything else is knowing that God is in control. Knowing He is the one that is working the timetable. He is the one that makes the right decisions when I make the wrong ones. He is the one that does what is right. Therefore, I trust in Him.
Trusting and Honoring God
That is what we want to talk about this morning. Trusting and honoring God. I want to look at Proverbs 3. I am not sure how far we will go with that. We will probably be looking at it again tonight and probably Wednesday night. Yes, you guessed it. You are stuck with me so hang in there. I have some things I want to point out. I have five different questions I want to look at. I want to answer with these things. You be much in prayer about that.
The Word of God is so important to us that are saved. You say, why? Because it is everything. It is everything to us. I have said it before; I will say it again. I have hinged my eternity on what this book tells me. I have sunk my whole heart into everything that is within the pages of this book. I believe every word of it to be true. Do you know what I have come to find out? When this life is over, however, I know it to be true. I know heaven is real. I know there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. I know it to be true. I know it because He lives in my heart. However, if it were not, if it was even a possibility that it were not; this is still the best life to live. It is still way, way better. I have been on both sides of the fence. I have been just as onery as a stripped rattle snake. I know what it is like to not necessarily be a perfect individual; but I know what it is like to be saved by the grace of God. I know what it is like for those things and desires that we once had to leave us and not be a victim of them anymore.
We find out here that it says this, in the book of Proverbs. Solomon writing unto us. He tells us this.
Proverbs 3:1-8
1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
As we look at this, this morning, I was thinking about an individual said one time. I thought well for someone that has lack of learning and isn’t very intelligent. That is a pretty good way of putting it. Maybe it will be simplified enough that you can get what I am saying. That is wisdom…knowledge can take a motor apart, but it takes wisdom to put it back together. Does that make sense? Good. Shannon got it. Nobody else did. Knowledge can look at a cake, but wisdom can put all the ingredients together, bake it, and make it taste right.
My point is this. We are looking at wisdom this morning. We are living in a world and a time where everybody, it seems like very few people are not wise, or so they think. They think they have knowledge of all kinds of things, and they have wisdom. We are not talking about the wisdom of this world. I am talking about the wisdom of God. I am talking about a right relationship with God.
Listen to what Solomon is saying here.
1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Here is the thing I want to ask this morning. Starting with question one. What will guarantee me life? Joseph talked about life and us being dead. Those that are not saved and us—a time when we were not saved; we were dead in our trespasses and sins. However, what gave us life? What will give you life this morning.
Here is another question. How can I live a life where I am truly satisfied. Let me ask you and pause for just a moment. Have you ever recognized a time when it seems like nobody is satisfied with anything? They are not satisfied with nothing. Why is that? We are going to mention some things this morning that will help us understand that I can not only have life and to be alive spiritually. Jesus said He came to give life and to give it more abundantly. How can I have an abundant life. How can I be alive in Christ Jesus? How can I be satisfied? I am going to tell you this. If your life is in Christ Jesus, you should be satisfied. If you are not, then you are out of the will of God. If you are not satisfied with your relationship with God then friend you need to work on that because you are not going to be satisfied with anything else, no matter what you do.
We find out here…what is that? How do we find the answers to those questions? How can we know this to be true? I am going to read this in the NLT.
Proverbs 3:1 (NLT) My child, never forget the things I have taught you.
When he talks about not my law; he is talking about the word, the commandments, the Word of God. He is saying, don’t forget what I have taught you. Don’t forget the Word of God. The most valuable, the most important thing that has been given to this world is Jesus Christ in the flesh and His Word. It came and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, as the scriptures tells us. Here is the thing about it. Why is that? It is the Word of God that changes people’s lives. I can have conversations with people. I can tell them what I think. I can tell them my opinion about things. We can have deep conversation. They can read book after book. They can read after great theologians.
Listen. When a life is changed, it is because of the Word of Almighty God. The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and the Word of God begins to pierce man’s heart. When He man’s heart, do you know what He does? Do you know what they realize? They then are left with a decision. Do I accept Christ? Do I believe what is troubling my heart? Do I reject that? It is very simple. Do you know what we realize? We realize…they have been deceived by the enemy and they say, “I can wait another day.” Listen friend, you may not have another day.
Proverbs 3:2
If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.
Here is the thing. The most important thing is the Word of God. True wisdom comes from those who knows where it comes from. That is not only the Word of God, but they embrace it. Do you know what they realize? They say, it has not only changed my life but it is everything to me. Therefore, they embrace it. He says, don’t forget it. He says, store my commandments in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years and your life will be satisfied. You say, hold on a minute Todd. I know some good Christians that have died at a young age. So, have I. Don’t mistake this for longevity, meaning for a long time. Don’t exclude it either. What I am saying is this. What I do know…I know the day that Christ moved into my heart, I know the things I heard from the Word of God; the Spirit of God took it and He pierced my heart. When He pierced it and I believed it; at that moment I was given eternal life. I have eternal life today in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.
I am going to tell you something else. The more that I adapt to that. The more that I embrace that. The more that I study the Word of God, the closer I come to God, the closer I get to God; the more I am satisfied. The less that it takes to satisfy me. There was a time that I thought…I am being serious. My life was upside down. If our house wasn’t clean, the vehicles wasn’t clean, if this wasn’t done, or if that wasn’t done…now a days they call it. OCD, that’s what they call it today. I just call it somebody that is never satisfied. The longer I have walked with the Lord, the longer I am with Him. I don’t think I have one clean vehicle. You come up to our house last night and after that party Katie had; it will be another week before that thing is clean. It does not matter to me not one bit. I am satisfied in the Lord in all things. In Him…there is nothing in my life that I can say I am unsatisfied with except maybe one. That is that I want to get closer to Him. I am never satisfied in my relationship to the Lord. I always want to get closer. I am going to tell you that He has to be the center of everything. If one desires to be wise and make it in this wicked and cruel world and have life and have it more abundantly. They want to know what it is like to be satisfied in the world that has so many things to offer them—I am going to tell you this. They are only going to do that in Jesus Christ. That is the only way. The only way they are going to do that is to embrace the Word of God. Believe the Word of God. Accept the Word of God. Allow it to be entirely apart…to control their life entirely.
What does the Word of God teach us? He tells us not to forget it. He tells us what we are to do with it. We are to have it, keep it and embrace it.
Proverbs 3:3
(NLT) Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
(KJV) Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Never let loyalty and never let kindness leave you. Now how do I do that? What are you getting at Todd? I’m not quite getting what you are saying.
11.23
I’m say when you and I look into the light of the Word of God, it teaches us loyalty, and it teaches us kindness. What does that mean? That means as I look back on the Word of God, as I listen to its teachings, as I allow the Spirit of God to take the Word of God and work in my heart; it gives me life. Along with that it is teaching me how to live my life. First of all, I live it faithfully and committed unto the Lord. Loyalty is this. It is commitment. It is being committed. We have talked about that several times in our class. It seems like nobody is committed anymore. They are not committed in their marriages. They are not committed on their jobs. They are not committed to this or to that. Sadly, but true, some people are not committed to the Lord.
Word of God Must be Everything
Listen to me. If I want to grow in my relationship with the Lord, I want to experience what it is like to be satisfied in a world that has thousands of things to offer and from day to day could change. I could like one thing this day and something else the next day. If I want to live in a world like that and be satisfied then here is what I have to understand. The Word of God has to mean everything to me. It has to be everything. It has to be my all in all. It has to something that I not only embrace it but here is the thing. I not only embrace it, I live it. I stay committed, not only here; I stay committed on the job. I stay committed at home. I stay committed when nobody is around, when nobody is looking; I stay committed. Committed to what? Committed to God Almighty, in my relationship with Him and knowing what He expects from me. Knowing what He wants from my life and desiring those very things that He expects of my life, and desiring those things and seeking after Him. No matter what, we stay committed. Through that—I will tell you this—you will not be an unkind, or bitter individual. You won’t be. Do you know what you will be? You will be kind. Todd, well there are days that I get up—let’s just stop it there because I have got them too. You can ask my boys. I’m not always that kind. Here is the thing, in the sphere of our life, we are kind individuals.
What is Kindness
What is kindness? Kindness cares about others. They care about the needs of others. They are not blind to the fact that when they see someone hurting, they care. They reach out and help. They do what they can when they can. They are an individual that is not all about themselves. They are an individual that wants to help. You say, how is that even possible? Here is the thing. Humanity within themselves is not a nature of humanity. I will tell you this. It is the nature of someone who believes the Word of God. Someone who has accepted the Word of God. Someone who is committed to the work of God. Someone who has committed their life unto Him and says I love Him more than anything.
Visible Part of One’s Life
He tells us, Solomon does, to write these things. He tells us to write them upon the…bind them like a necklace around our neck and write them upon the tables of our heart. How do we do such a thing? What is he getting at? What does he mean when he says that? What is it telling us? Here it is. Binding them about our neck symbolizes making these virtues a prominent and visible part of one’s life. Listen. To be carried and displayed in interactions with others. Do you know what I want?
I had an individual the other day—please don’t mistake what I am saying as if I am bragging by any means. That is not my intentions. She made the comment were your ears burning yesterday? I said no. She said, well we were talking about you. I said Uh Oh! She said, no, it was good. We were talking about how nice you are. I have said it before and I mean it with everything in me. I want anybody that knows me, if the question was ever asked to them; what is the nicest person you have ever met in your life. I want to be the first one that comes to their mind. I want to be somebody they recognize. Here is the thing. If they can understand, how in the world could you be nice when somebody acts that way or somebody did this? How can you be kind to people that did this? Then I can say, you know what? It is because of Jesus Christ. It is not me. It is nothing within me. I have done no good. There is nothing within me at all. You take away Christ and I am the vilest sinner you will ever meet. I am going to tell you what. Through Him, I am a sinner saved by the grace of God. I have been washed by the red royal blood. That old nasty black sin, when Christ moved in; He washed it with His red royal blood. Guess what? I am as white as snow in the sight of Almighty God. How is that possible? Because of Jesus at Calvary, through His Word, through accepting His Word, believing His Word and knowing that it is true. What else can we say?
As we think about the necklace tied about thy neck, about like a necklace. Not only would it be a reminder to you and your behavior as you go out into the world, but the world also could see that. What is the next part? He talks about writing it upon the table of thine heart. We also understand that it is to be a constant reminder to live in the principles of kindness and truth. Live in the principles of kindness and truth; no matter what.
Central to God’s Character
Last part is this. The virtues of mercy and truth are central to God’s character. Why would I live in such a way. Let me tell you something. If that is not your lifestyle then likely you don’t know who God is because that is who God is. God is kind. God is truthful. God can be trusted. Everything that God says…I struggle with someone who is a compulsive liar that tells me they know Christ. I would have to say, I can’t agree with you. Why is that? That is not who God is. If He lives in our heart, then our character ought to be of God. A wise person again, talking about wisdom, lives in alignment with God’s nature. How? By embracing and embodying these qualities. They matter more than anything else, they matter to me. If you are saved today, they matter to you. Being kind and being truthful matter to you more than anything else.
There have been times that I have been ugly. Do you know what? I didn’t like it. It wasn’t long after being ugly that I went back and either apologized, or have been very troubled about it. I asked the Lord to forgive me. I don’t like that. Why is that? Is it because “Oh, Todd, you’re such a great guy.” No! Because Christ lives in my heart. That is not who we are. That is not how we behave. That is not how we act. That is not what we do. Here is the next thing.
How to be sure of anything.
How can I be sure of anything? Verses 5 and 6 would tell us that. There are three simple things. I am going to read these to you quickly.
Proverbs 3:5 & 6
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
How can I know anything? How can I be sure of anything?
Trust in the Lord with your entire heart.
What does that mean? Does it mean that I come before God and say Lord, I believe you and I trust you; then I go on about my day and I try to figure everything out? No! Does it mean that “when things come along that I don’t understand that it is okay for me to sit and wring my hands and occasionally thought to God and hope that He will just hear and maybe He will respond. However, I have to still try to figure out.” Nope! That’s not it. When it says trust, it means you rely upon God at all times, for all things. ALL THE TIME AND FOR ALL THINGS. No matter what it is and no matter what is going on. You rely on Him. Relying means you are leaning on Him. You are trusting Him. It doesn’t mean that you understand. It doesn’t mean that you got a past; I have a way of figuring out what is going to happen before it comes. Therefore, that puts me at ease. No. You don’t get that nor do I. What it does mean is this. God, I believe your Word so much, I am so convinced, I am so sold out that your Word is so true and have seen it change my life. Hallelujah! I have seen it change me in more ways than one. Not only from sinner to Saint—yeah, I said it. A Saint. Why is that? Not because I am perfect, but because I am child of God. Guess what? You are a Saint too. You say, you don’t know me. You don’t know me either. If Christ lives in our heart, we are Saints today. Not just for that, but He has changed me so much in my relationship with Him. As I have walked these many years with Him, my behavior as a young Christian is so different today than what it was then. My thoughts then were so much different than they are now. They are completely different. Why is that? Because we come to trust the Lord with every passing year, with every passing day, with every passing moment. Do you know what I have learned to do? I have come to trust Him more and more…
I was thinking just a little while ago, this morning. I thought Sunday night, we didn’t have service. Then Wednesday night we got an emergency call for an elderly fella that his water line had busted. It was just shooting out of his house. He needed help getting it shut off. Therefore, we were not able to make it. Do you know what? To make it to this morning was a real struggle for me. I thought I felt like I had been gone forever. I don’t understand how anybody could stay absent from church all the time then claim Christ. I am not saying they are not saved. What I am saying is this. I long to be around God’s people. I long to be near Him. I long to listen to His Word. I long to hear the songs sang to the glory of God. Why is that? Because Christ lives in me. That is way. He lives in you. Not only that but also, we trust Him with all of our heart. Here is the second one.
Don’t depend on your own understanding.
Don’t depend on your own understanding. Don’t rely on yourself. You say, hold on just a minute. Do you mean I should just get up each day and not do anything then God is going to take care of it all? You know better than that and so do I. God gave us minds to use common sense and even though I don’t have much, He expects me to use as much as I can.
Grant tells me I don’t have any. The thing of it is this. Me and Sam don’t think that’s funny. He tells Sam that too. Sam is sitting back there.
The thing of it is this. We can’t rely and depend on ourselves. I can’t. I’ve told this story. They don’t know. Nobody on our crew knows. They have no idea how many times they have called me to the table for a question of something they could not figure out and didn’t know, and on my way to them I’m asking God for wisdom because I don’t know either. Somehow, God does what He always does. I would like one of these times it would be through me, but maybe before I die He will. Usually, it is through one of them. There it is. It comes together. They figure it out. Do you know what? God does what He always does. I have learned to trust Him in every aspect of my life. Whether it is on the job, whether it is when I get a call; I don’t know how many times immediately—I have often wondered why God, why have you put me in the position you have put me in. This is not me. This is not what I asked for. This is not what I want. Do you know what it has taught me? It has taught me that in a spur of a moment that I just lean on God, just trust Him. When something is brought to my attention, when something happens that could turn my world upside down, or things I have to come up with an answer for just like that. Do you know what I do? I lean on Him. It has taught me to lean on Him more than anything else in my life. Where He has me at today, has caused me to do that more than anything I have ever been through. Trust Him for answers. Trust Him to lead me. Trust Him to guide me. Do you know what He has done? He has done that faithfully every day. Do you know what I know? I know He will continue to do that. How do you know that? Because He loves me. I don’t understand why. I know this. He loves you too. You say, Todd you don’t know me. I don’t need to. God loves you.
Why is it important? What are the results?
Why is it important? What are the results? When he mentions here in the next verses, fearing and reverencing the Lord. Shunning and turning away from evil. Let’s read those.
Proverbs 3:7 & 8
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom
What does he mean? Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. When something comes to light and you think you have figured it out. You are able to do that. Listen. Give God all the glory. Because it is of Him; it isn’t you. It is Him. Not only that, we find out that it says this; don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, do this—fear the Lord, turn away from evil. Let me say it like this. Don’t work tirelessly to show and to have wisdom of this world and for everybody to look at you and say, oh how wise the person is or how accomplished. Let the greatest thing in your life be this. You reverence God, and you shun evil. Do it. You will find out this. Then you will have healing for your body and strength to your bones. Do you know what it does for you? It causes you not only to be alive spiritually, but it gives you strength for the journey. It talks about navel and was talking about it as a baby. As the baby is hooked to the mother through the umbilical cord and gets its food, nutrients and what it needs to give it life; this is where we get our life. Not only that but it talks about into the bones, marrow to the bones and strength. Do you know where we get the strength? Right here. Do you know where we get the wisdom that we need not of this world—right here. (holding the Bible) How do we do that? Not by focusing on us, but by focusing on God. Turning our attention to Him. Acknowledging evil for what it is which is evil. When we acknowledge it, we turn from it. You say I don’t want that in my life. I don’t want to be a part of that. That is not me. Do you know what we do? When we turn away from that, we reverence God for His holiness, power, and strength. We praise Him for all He has done in our lives. God is without question and without doubt the most needed thing in this world. In the lives of people today—it is not money. It is not food. It is not shelter. While all these things are important, it is none of these things. The most important thing is the Lord Jesus Christ living in one’s heart. They need God more than anything.
My question to you this morning is “Do you know Him? Do you know Him personally?”
Come and Pray