Here is some more amazing wisdom from the Book of Proverbs from the Message Bible:
Vs.5-6. Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God 's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.
Life is a journey of faith and wisdom. Getting wisdom, a major focus of the teaching in the book of Proverbs, helps us to think about choices and their consequences, as well as to see life from God's perspective. Faith is the choice to trust God even when we don't understand what is going on or why. Many things in life are beyond our control yet God's hand of providence undergirds everything – our choices, good and bad, as well as the chocies of others that affect our lives.
Be aware of God and attentive to His voice through the various ways He guides us. He desires for you to be on track even more than you do. Thankfully, the steps of good people are directed by the Lord. He will show which way to take.
Vs.9-10. Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.
In an agricultural society, everyone wanted their barns bursting and their wine vats brimming over, just like everyone wants extra cash in hard and money in the bank today. How does this happen? Yes, through diligent work but also as a result of choosing to honour God with the first and best of everything we receive.
I love the simplicity and power of the 10/10/80 Financial Plan:
- Give 10% of all your income to God's work through the church.
- Save or invest 10% of all your income.
- Endeavour to live on 80% or less of your income. If you can't, seek to increase your income or reduce your expenses. This may even require down-sizing your living standards.
If you do this consistently, over time you will be financially free. You will have honoured God, saved for your future and lived within your means. That's wise financial stewardship that God blesses!
Vs.11-12. Don't, dear friend, resent God 's discipline; don't sulk under his loving correction. It's the child he loves that God corrects; a father's delight is behind all this.
Choices have consequences. We reap what we sow. When we don't the results we are receiving we need to reflect on the causes. What is God teaching us? What do we need to change? What will we do different next time? Wisdom is a choice to live and learn. Often we learn more from our failures than our successes.
Vs.27. Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God's hand for that person.
Here is God's will for your life. See a need and meet it. Don't be like that priest or Levite who walked by the person who had been beaten and robbed, because they were focused on their religious duties. Get off your donkey and offer a helping hand. God will be pleased and lives will be touched with God's love. Are you ready?