Reflections From The Proverbs: Spiritual Umbilical Cord

Spiritual umbilical cord

Proverbs Chapter Three:
7. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
8. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. NIV
These verses in the KJV read like this: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. KJV

The word translated "navel" in the KJV and "body" in the NIV is the word "shor" and means umbilical cord, and figuratively it means the center of strength. And the word "marrow" in the KJV and "nourishment" in the NIV is the word "shiqquwy" it means beverage; moisture or refreshment. At other places this word is interpreted drink.

Picture in your mind, an unborn baby with the umbilical cord transporting all the life giving nourishment that the baby needs to grow and survive. There is, however, something important to remember about that umbilical cord. It is not producing the nourishment it is only transporting it. At the end of the umbilical cord is a placenta that is attached to the mother. The life giving nourishment is coming from the mother.

"It" shall be health and nourishment, moisture, refreshment and drink coming through a spiritual umbilical cord. What is the "It" that this spiritual umbilical cord is attached to?

"It" has three parts:

1. To not be wise in your own eyes.

2.To fear the Lord.

3. To shun evil.

How do you see yourself? Do you handle everything without God’s input? Are your ideas and ways adequate? If so you may be a little too wise in your own eyes. Over and over God emphasizes to us the huge difference between Him and us. He wants us to be in fear or reverent awe of His untouchable excellence, His power, His majesty. It is because of His limitless compassion that he says Let me lead. He knows full well that He is the one qualified to lead. We need to recognize where true wisdom lies.

If we seek wisdom from wisdom’s source and not from our own selves, God will pour into us strength and health, nourishment and refreshing drink.

There is another scripture that says something very similar. It is found in John 15:5-7 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Without that connection to the true vine, to the source of true wisdom, we will wither. It will be as if we are without nourishment. The amazing thing is that it is out of His immense love that He desires to nourish us.

Dear Father, help us to always recognize that you are wise and worthy of our fearful awe and respect for the magnitude of your wisdom. Help us forfeit the leadership role to you so that our faith will be like an umbilical cord bringing health and nourishment.

Reflections From the Proverbs: Worshiping With Trust

Worshiping with trust

Proverbs Chapter Three:
5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. NIV

God tells us in Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity. NIV

Finding God is a heart search not a mind search. Common sense tells us that it took supreme intelligence to create the complex universe we live in and the earth that we live on. This supremely intelligent creator God tells us that we can have a relationship with Him and it comes by finding Him with our heart.

Trust is also a heart thing. These verses tell us to trust the Lord with all our heart and to not depend on our own ability to comprehend things. Our abilities to understand are very limited. while God’s understand is complete and perfect. The message is, let God be God.

We want to run our lives. We even want to run other peoples lives. God says "Let me have the reigns, let me do the leading. I know what tomorrow is going to be like. I know what will make you ready for the things of tomorrow. I know what will bring true joy in your life. You think you know what will bring fulfillment, but you don’t know all the things I know. There are things your mind can’t even comprehend that I can bring into your life if you let me lead."

Trusting the Lord with everything is a form of worship. It is a form of worship that He rightly deserves. It is saying, " I know who you are and who I am in comparison. I honor who you are by letting you lead. I bend my will to your will acknowledging that you are worthy of this manner of worship."

How many blessings have we missed because we were on roads of our own choosing instead of the path God would lead us on. His love is so relentless. He pursues us. He continually beckons us back toward his leadership, to the path of his choosing. Life seems to be a continually meandering back and forth across his chosen path slowly learning how to stay on it more and more. It is finding that it is on his chosen path that the blessing fall. Some learn more quickly than others that being where the blessings are is the wiser choice.

The verse says in all your ways. In the way that you relate to your spouse, in the way that you relate to your children and grandchildren, in the way that you are a friend, an employee or employer, in the way you do ministry. In the way that you are a neighbor. In the way that you use time and resources. In all your ways, if you acknowledge him as Lord, he will give trustworthy direction.

Dear Father, you are certainly worthy of our trust. We acknowledge the greatness of who you are. Please increase our faith to trust you in all our ways. Help us to find the blessings you have marked out for us on the paths of your choosing.

Reflections From The Proverbs: Consistently Caring, Forever Faithful

Consistently Caring, Forever Faithful

Proverbs Chapter Three:
3. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
4. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. NIV

I am what I would call a word person. I have always been a word person. I can get pretty excited about how words fit together shedding color and feel and intensity. In comparison, my husband can be watching a sporting event and see a play that to him is just a beautiful thing, bringing strength and skill together to culminate in a goal. Others must get the same thrill because it is then replayed over and over from every imaginable angle to derive every bit of thrill from it. That is how I feel about words, and discovering the perfect word to convey a thought or feeling or message.

This is how I feel about the word "bind".These verses say to take love and faithfulness and bind them around your neck. Let me first say that it isn’t telling us to make necklaces out of them to hang around our neck like trinkets for ornamental value. Although adorning oneself with love and faithfulness is a beautiful thing.

The word bind is a wonderful word. It is translated here from the Hebrew word "qashar" The words used to translate this particular word are, "to bind up", "to join together", "to knit", "stronger", and "work".

Love and faithfulness are to become a part of our being. Joined together as part of our character. Knitted into the fabric of who we are, worked into us. When we do this we become stronger.

This same word is found in Nehemiah 4:6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work. KJV

It is also found in I Samuel 18:1 regarding the friendship of David and Jonathan, And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. KJV

Returning to our verses in Proverbs, they goes on to further emphasize the importance of these two qualities, it says write them on the tablet of your heart. Notice it doesn’t say put them in your memory. This is about what really matters to you, what you really care about. It is about heart things.
Do you want to make a good impression before men, and even before God? Become a person of mercy and trustworthiness. A man or woman with the attributes of loving mercy and continual trustworthiness knitted into the fabric of their character will be a person who will be looked upon with admiration. This person will also receive God’s favor.

God is a God of love and faithfulness. When we bind these to our being and imprint them on our hearts, we become more like God.

"Dear Father, help us to make these two qualities of love and faithfulness part of who we are. Help us to become more like you."

Reflections From The Proverbs: If You ___ It, They Will Come

If You______It, They Will Come

Proverbs Chapter Three:
1. My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,
2. For they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. NIV

We all know the fill in the blank above. From the movie "Field of Dreams" If you build it they will come. Here the fill in the blank is If you keep it they will come. The word "keep" here is the word (natsar) in the Hebrew. The meaning goes further than to store the commands in our hearts. It also means to guard, protect and maintain them. God knows how weak and feeble we are. He knows that His teachings need to be refreshed daily. He knows that there needs to be a daily renewal of relationship with Him. In the movie, if you build the stadium, the people will come. Here the message is if you keep God’s teachings and commands in your heart, prolonged life and prosperity will come.

This refers to much more than the ten commandments given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. God has given us much teaching about who He is, about who we are to Him, about the plans He has for us. He could be telling us I want you to love everything about me. Keep me in your heart. Keep all that I am and all that I care about in your heart. Love what I love, hate what I hate, respond the way I would respond. When you live your life in this manner your life and days will be enriched.

It might be easy to think that doesn’t really pan out when we remember that most of the prophets of God were not treated so well, and neither were the disciples and early Christians. How does long life and prosperity fit together with these saints who became martyrs keeping the teachings of God in their hearts.

The words of Jesus might shed some light on this. In Matthew 6:19-21 he says: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."NIV

We need to remember that we are eternal souls living in temporary bodies. I believe that the verses above can mean that even in this life length of days and prosperity come to us from wise choices and godly living. But we must understand that this life we are living is like the cartoon snippet that precedes the main attraction. Our eternal destiny is the main attraction. This snippet of time that we are allotted sets the course for our eternity. We are given choices that determine our eternal destiny.

Precious are the teachings of God. Keep them, guard them, treasure them in your heart for they will bring life and prosperity. Maintain them with daily attention. It is interesting to note that if you are reading this, that is what you are doing. May God bless you richly as you keep His teachings in your heart.