Would like your days in 2016 to be a little more full and fulfilling than your days in 2015? Do you want 2016 to pass a little more slowly than 2015? Would you like a little more peace in your life this year as opposed to last year? How about favor and good success (or a good reputation) in the sight of God and man – do you want those this year? Are clarity about your life’s purpose and direction, and healing and refreshment things you want to experience more in the coming year? What about plentifulness? In your pantry or bank account would you like to find a little more plenty and a little less ‘empty’?
In Proverbs 3, Solomon describes a full and fulfilling life, a life marked by peace, purpose, and plenty, a life that any child of God can experience; but there are some requirements. I want some things in 2016 for me and my family, for you and yours, for our church, for the world—for the Anii of Benin. But, according to Solomon, these good things that can be experienced in earthly life are not simply handed to us for nothing; they must be pursued diligently. If you’ve ever made a New Year’s resolution, you know that they aren’t kept by accident. Most of them shouldn’t be called resolutions at all but rather ‘New Year’s wishes.’ Why? Because a resolution involves resolve: a steady, disciplined, determination to follow-through on a course of action. We can want and wish for the good things of God in this life, but unless we add working to our wanting and wishing we may never know them. So my thesis today is this: that Even though we must work for some of God’s good things, they are well worth the effort!
Now to be clear, I’m not talking about salvation! Last Sunday Jeff talked about God’s sin-forgiving, soul-saving, eternal life-giving grace through Jesus Christ—a gift freely given to sinners who cannot possibly earn it by effort. That’s why it’s called ‘saving grace’ not ‘saving wages’!
The good things Solomon lays out in Proverbs 3 aren’t salvation, but they are things every Christian should resolve to pursue each year. If you say, “I don’t need plenty or peace; I don’t need healing or refreshment, favor or success; as long as I’ve got salvation—as long as I’ve got my Jesus—I’ll be okay,” you’ve got it wrong. I don’t know any earthly child who ever said to an earthly parent, “Mom, Dad, I don’t need any extras; it’s an honor just to live in your home, be your child, and have your name; just feed, clothe, and sustain me with the bare minimum, and I’ll be happy.” You parents might say, “I wish my kids wanted less; can’t they see I’m struggling here?” Or, “I wish they wanted less; can’t they see how much they already have?” But that’s where earthly parents and the heavenly Father differ. Our Father isn’t struggling like some earthly parents or stingy like others. He’s both able and willing to give good things to His children.
God’s eternal gift of salvation can’t be lost, but other good things from God can. As the perfect Parent, God isn’t greedy with other good things; why would He be when they can so greatly enhance our effectiveness in living for and sharing the good news of the very best thing: His eternal gift of salvation? This is why Paul tells the Corinthians in 2 Cor 9:8, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Paul’s not talking about saving grace when he says, “God is able to make all grace abound to you,” but about common grace, things like money, health, and good reputations. God wants us to work for the good things Solomon describes here (and others) so that we understand not only their value for our lives but what a bummer losing them would be to our greater gospel mission.
Solomon clumps these good things into four groups: vv. 1-2, vv. 3-4, vv. 5-8, and vv. 9-10. And in each group he gives specific actions or works—human means by which those good things can be secured and ultimately enjoyed.
Length of Days and Years of Life and Peace
We’ll look first at vv. 1-2. But before we do, let’s remember what a proverb is. A proverb is not a hard and fast rule that holds 100% of the time; it’s a wise saying that captures general principle. ‘A penny saved is a penny earned’ states the general principle that we tend to hold onto what we earn. But plenty of earned pennies have also been spent, some of them even impulsively! The proverb has exceptions.
Now look at vv. 1-2: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.” Heeding the Bible’s instructions generally leads to a longer, fuller, more peaceful life. But remembering Jesus’ teaching and keeping His com-mandments didn’t necessarily yield long, peaceful earthly lives for the apostles did it? Almost all of them died violent deaths before they were old, as did countless Christians throughout the centuries. In their cases the general rule didn’t hold, but aren’t you glad the apostles and all the Christian martyrs of history felt that remembering Christ’s teaching and keeping God’s commands were worth it even though they themselves didn’t gain earthly benefits from those efforts? I sure am!
Solomon wanted his children (and I want you) to have long, full, peace-ful lives. But, according to Solomon, this kind of life isn’t just going to fall into your lap; conditions must be met for attaining an earthly life worth living. He names two means of laying hold of those good things: 1) not forgetting his teach-ing, and 2) keeping his commandments. The second builds off of the first: we can’t keep commandments with our hearts and bodies if our minds forget the teaching that contains them. A disciplined body is the fruit of a disciplined mind. At a time of year when many are resolving to get our bodies into shape, Paul’s words to Timothy in 1 Tim 4:7-8 are especially pertinent, “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
So, what’s your plan? How will you discipline yourself for godliness this year? How will you labor to not forget God’s teaching with your mind so that you don’t fail to keep His commands in 2016? How will you work for a more peaceful life this year? David says in Ps. 119:165, “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.” These are things to want and wish for, but we’ve got to work at it if we expect to enjoy them. And I hope you’re catching the theme: it all centers on what we do with God’s Word. So I ask again, what’s your plan? How will you keep God’s word in your mind so that you can live the benefits with your body and in-turn show those benefits to a desperate world?
Favor and Good Success in the Sight of God and Man
Next we come to favor and success. These rank pretty high on most peoples’ new year’s wish list, don’t they? When Solomon says in v. 4: “So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man,” he’s not simply talking about success in terms of riches but success in terms of reputation. Every good Christian would say he or she cares about his reputation before God more than before men; but we all want to be well thought of by others, don’t we? And does it really have to be one or the other? Does God not want us to pursue a good reputation among people? Are cursing the culture and waving hateful posters the only means of gaining His favor? The Westboro Baptist crowd may think so, but Jesus didn’t! He said ‘love your enemies.’ When reviled He reviled not in return. Luke tells us in Acts that even though many remained unconverted and didn’t join the Christian movement, the apostles and the early church lived so authentically and faithfully as to gain the favor and esteem of the public at large.
But favor and good success (or a good reputation) in the sight of God and man are not automatically bestowed upon us when we receive salvation; it takes diligent effort to both gain and maintain them. Solomon says in v. 3, “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” He’s of course alluding to the inscribing of Moses’ Law on stone tablets. But laws written on stone can be forgotten, as ancient Israel proved over and over. Solomon wants his children to preserve God’s law somewhere more present and permanent than stone. Jeremiah picks up this theme in Jer 31:33, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” as does Paul even later in 2 Cor 3:3, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” Jeremiah and Paul agree: this is a supernatural work of God. But Solomon uses the present tense in each of these commands to his sons to say that, rather than hinder the Spirit’s work by turning away from God’s word, they are in fact to join Him in the task.
As my kids learn to write I sometimes hold the pencil. I provide the movement, but they learn the motion. This happens spiritually when we make time for reading and meditating on Scripture. These disciplines help insure that we don’t forsake knowing God’s mercy in our hearts so that we won’t forsake showing mercy to others, hence the image of binding it around our neck—wearing it exter-nally. If you haven’t done so yet, spend some time today thinking through a strategy for knowing and showing steadfast (merciful) love and faithfulness this year. It’ll take commitment and work, but favor and good success in the sight of God and man are so worth it! They’re earthly benefits to us that have the potential to yield eternal blessings to others if we pursue them diligently.
Straight Paths, Healing and Refreshment
The third group of ‘good things’ is found in vv. 5-8 where Solomon talks about having straight paths and healing for the flesh and refreshment for the bones.
Clarity of purpose and direction in life is a big want for people, including many Christians; and so are physical healing and refreshment. Again, it’s not wrong to want these things; the problem is knowing how and being willing to rightly work for them. When we’re young, breezing through life by the seat of our pants has some appeal, but as we age most Christians know they need to put effort into planning for their future be it educationally, occupationally, financially; but the difficulty arises in submitting our agenda entirely to God’s, and surrendering our personal desires to His purposeful design for our lives. Solomon says,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
Every phrase of that passage is like fingernails on the chalkboard of our “me” society where submission is wimpy and surrender is weak. Solomon says ‘Trust the Lord;’ our society says ‘Trust only yourself.’ Solomon says, ‘don’t lean on your own understanding;’ our society says ‘Believe in yourself.’ Solomon says, ‘In all your ways acknowledge Him;’ our society says ‘Claim the spotlight for yourself and push everybody else to the shadows.’ Solomon says ‘Be not wise in your own eyes;’ But our society follows the logic of Oprah who says, “Follow your instincts; that’s where true wisdom manifests itself.”
I don’t think we understand how hard we need to work to overcome the “me first, me most, me best” messages our society constantly sends our way. If clarity of purpose and direction, healing and refreshment in our souls and bodies are important to us in 2016 and beyond, then these verses ought to form a grid whereby we prepare ourselves each morning: “Lord, help me trust and acknow-ledge You in all things; help me lean not on my own understanding or think myself wise; help me fear You and turn from all evil.” And they should also form a grid whereby we evaluate ourselves each night: “Lord, show me where I failed to trust and acknowledge You; show me where I leaned on my own understanding and thought myself wise; show me where I dishonored You and indulged evil. And help me work and fight harder for Your good things tomorrow.”
Our God is so good and so generous; He will not withhold His good things from His children. Psalm 84:11 says, “The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” You say, But my walk isn’t blameless. But remember, dear Christian, if you’re walking in the righteousness of Christ by faith, God sees Jesus’ perfection and credits it to your account. You and I may not be flawless but we are blameless! One of the marks of blamelessness is humble confession. The great sinner, king David, cried in Ps. 51:17, “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
It’s hard work coming to God persistently, in confession and brokenness, especially when it’s the same easily-besetting sins that bring us there. But when Satan tempts you to despair, make a B-line for Prov 3:11-12: “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.” Labor at confession; per-sist in it; don’t give up! In 2016 find an accountability partner, and do what the Bible says: confess your sins one to another, and watch God make your paths straight, and feel Him bring healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Filled with Plenty
God stands ready to forgive the flaws and failings of His blameless ones in Christ. And as we come to Solomon’s fourth group of ‘goods’ we see that God not only stands ready to forgive but to fill. “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce,” Solomon says in v. 9. And in v. 10, “then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”
Oh no, Darin’s gonna preach on tithing again. No, not tithing, honoring! Tithing can be so mathematical and mechanical. God isn’t honored by mere percentages or proportions; He’s honored by people who value Him more than their wealth. He doesn’t need anything from us; we need things from Him. And again, our Father is not a Parent who would keep His children on a starvation diet of material things. He knows we need them. He knows we need them not only to survive, but for our global gospel mission to succeed. And since that mission isn’t ultimately ours but His, why would He keep His soldiers hungry, thirsty, or naked?
Honoring God with our wealth takes discipline and determination. Solomon uses the present tense here (and throughout this passage). He wanted his sons and anyone who would ever read these words to hear a direct command for right here, right now today. Not ‘you have honored the Lord with your wealth’ in the past. Not ‘you shall honor the Lord with your firstfruits’ in the future. But ‘honor the Lord’ (today), ‘then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine.’ Don’t miss the sequence here: ‘then…’
Conclusion
In 2016 let’s not be Christians who merely want or wish for the good things of God. Let’s put some resolve to our resolutions and work not only to gain but to maintain His earthly benefits. Let’s not lose them through laziness or waste them through wrongdoing. Let’s realize how important God’s earthly goods are to our disciple-making mission and labor in prayer and obedient living to use His good things to make much of His best thing: His Son and the salvation He provides for which no one can work but which everyone must receive by faith.