Obeying

Proverbs 3:^5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” (BSB, emphasis added)

Our anchor scripture highlights four phrases that show us how to position ourselves to be guided by God. The first phrase is Trust In The Lord With All Your Heart and this is Risking. The principle for Risking is the Eighty-Twenty Principle. The second phrase is Lean Not On Your Own Understanding and this is Relying. The principle for Relying is the Ninety-Ten Principle. God is saying, are you relying on Him or are you relying on your bank account? Are you relying on God or are you relying on the economy? Are you relying on God or are you relying on the exchange rate? We pray that God will heal our economy, however, you must rely on God and not on the exchange rate.

Going on eagle’s wings is Obeying. The third phrase is In All Your Ways Acknowledge Him. In how many of your ways? In all your ways acknowledge Him and this is huge. To acknowledge God is really to obey God. We disobey God when we do not acknowledge God. Proverbs 28:¹⁴ “Always obey the Lord and you will be happy. If you are stubborn, you will be ruined.” (GNT). Sometimes, we are just stubborn, and some people actually take pride in their being stubborn. How does being stubborn even benefit anybody? A typical example, a husband and wife are going to an unknown location. The wife says to her husband, ‘Let’s ask for direction’ and the husband says, ‘No! I know the place.’ And they have been going around in circles.

The wife suggests that they try another route but the husband refuses, insisting that he will find the place. And people spend unnecessary time proving unnecessary points. The converse is also true sometimes where the husband says their direction on an area of expertise is direction A, but the wife disagrees because she does not ‘feel like it’. And the husband says, ‘It has nothing to do with how you feel. This is the path.’ But the wife insists on her staying in her position so stubbornly, wasting time. The point is, the longer you are stubborn, the further you are from where you are supposed to be.

James 1:²² “…remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. So don’t fool yourselves.” (LB). You do not get more spiritual by hearing scriptural and spiritual verses. You get more spiritual by doing something about it. Do something about what you have heard.

Prayer: Father, I acknowledge You as God over all.  I acknowledge You as my God, my Lord, my Source, my Help, my Defender, my Refuge, my Rock, and my Salvation, in Jesus Name. Amen!