“Honor the LORD with your wealth, and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” -Prov. 3:9-12
Last week we looked at Proverb 3:5-8 which begins, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart…”. How does Solomon expect for us to show our trust in the LORD? By not leaning on our own understanding…by acknowledging Him above all things…to fear the LORD by turning away from evil. (Prov. 3:5-8)
Well in today’s text he gives us a couple of more ways that we can trust in the LORD with all our hearts. First by, “Honor the LORD with your wealth, and with the firstfruits of all your produce…” In other words, we are to honor Him with all that He has given us, whether that be the money He gives us in forms of pay for work rendered or gifts that all of that would be used for His glory or whether that be the gifts/talents that He gives for us to make a life that glorifies Him. In using these to His glorify we show forth our trust in Him to care for us as we care for others before ourselves. This text also, secondarily, speaks to our obedience in our giving to the church through tithes and offering which are commanded of God’s people as way for us to show we trust Him to provide for us by obeying Him.
The next way Solomon speaks of us trusting in the LORD with all our hearts is, “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of His reproof…” How often we react negatively to the LORD’s discipline in our lives revealing our lack of trust in Him. The fact that we all too often question what God is doing reveals our lack of trust. We may not say it, but we infer that we know better than He does when we question Him or His motives. For whatever God does to us, with us and through us is good for us, for those around us and for His glory…always. Discipline is necessary or we never improve or grow.
And look at the blessings promised when we trust in the LORD with all our heart. “He will make our paths straight…” (Psalm 5:8 states that these paths are His as well which He makes straight for us)We need to trust someone…it is part of our DNA so when we trust in the LORD it is then that we can and will be refresh by having a clear path in front of us relieving the worry and stress of not knowing where we are going.…it is then that we can and will experience the hope that is only experience in Him. But even more blessings are spoken of in our text today, “…then your barns will be filled with plenty. And your vats will be bursting with wine.” I don’t know how many times I have heard from people who have re-prioritized their lives to be servants and givers, who speak of how the LORD has blessed them back. You do not become servants or givers with the thought of getting back…that’s hypocrisy. But when your heart is changed and you begin to understand the role God has given you of servant you will see and experience the blessings that He intends.
And lastly, (in our text, not the last blessing Solomon will highlight) he says by way of blessing,”… for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” God’s discipline reveals His love …His steadfast love for us for He only…I repeat…ONLY HE…disciplines those He loves.
So, how do we learn to trust Him more and better? The simple answer is this: He has provided the means of grace for us to train us and grows us in the faith…His Word, read and preached, the fellowship of believers through worship and sacraments and regular/continuous prayer which beacons us to serve Him and those around us. It’s a simple formula but when any of these are neglected or seldom used we are unable to trust the LORD with our whole heart which keeps us from the blessings He has promised.
So that begs the question…How are we doing? Think about that today…because the blessings or the lack of blessings that you are experiencing reveals our trust levels! God will love us no matter what. These experiences are there for us always… “grace upon grace” and when we actually trust Him then we experience them in full measure.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
