Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 132 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
Proverbs 3:1-6 – Trusting the Lord #1
Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 132 of our Trek. Yesterday and for the next few days, we will remain at camp and dig for the nuggets of wisdom contained within the book of Proverbs. Yesterday we finished up with Chapter 2, and today we will begin to explore Chapter 3 as we mine for additional nuggets of wisdom. Once we complete the entire book of Proverbs, we will make the entire commentary available in an eBook. If you have any of your own observations, comments, or questions as we explore these nuggets of wisdom, please share them on the comment section of our daily journal pages.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and when this episode originally airs, we will be with our friends and business partners Charles and Alison as we continue to work through the detailed plans of our current construction project. It is an exciting time but always one for learning and growth both on a business and personal level.
At our campfire today, we continue to learn from the wisest man to ever live Solomon, as he shares personal wisdom with his children. This is a great reminder to us to impart wisdom as we have those teachable moments with our kids, grandkids, or any young person each day. Of course that also means that we must have first gained that wisdom, insight, and understanding ourselves. So, let’s begin to study the treasures found in Proverbs 3. Let us boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.
The title of Chapter 3 is…
Trusting in the Lord
We’ll begin with verse 1.
1 My child, never forget the things I have taught you.
Store my commands in your heart.
Chapter 3 begins, as usual, with advice for Solomon’s son. Solomon encourages his son to remember his commands. The son must remember the words, but he should also aim for a deeper experience. Wisdom should enter his heart. Wisdom should guide his thoughts. Wisdom should control his emotions and desires.
2 If you do this, you will live many years,
and your life will be satisfying.
The son will benefit from wisdom. Solomon mentions health and wealth as two potential benefits.
Wisdom brings health because wisdom teaches safe actions. A wise person eats good food and takes care of his body.
Wisdom brings wealth because a wise person is careful. A wise person works hard and does not waste money.
Do not think that health and wealth show wisdom. A thief can become wealthy because he steals. An evil person can take money from other people. Sometimes God gives health and wealth to a person but not always.
18 “Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath,” Deuteronomy [8:18].
True health is not only the health of the body. Your relationship with God must also be healthy. In fact, your relationship with God is more important than your body. See Matthew [5:29]-30.
Solomon was very wealthy. But he knew that true wealth is not money. See Proverbs [3:14]-15. Wisdom is worth more than silver or gold. Wisdom is worth more than all our money.
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.
4 Then you will find favor with both God and people,
and you will earn a good reputation.
Loyalty and kindness should always be with us. As Solomon writes this, he is thinking about Deuteronomy 6:6-9, 6 “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
In the same way we should commit to the principles that are discovered in the book of Proverbs. We need to repeat them again and again and talk about them in everyday life.
These nuggets of wisdom need to become part of the very fabric of our lives. Just as Paula quilts together little pieces of fabric to make beautiful designs, the principles in Proverbs should be quilted together into our lives so that our lives form a beautiful picture.
Love and trust should not be just ideas. We must not remember them today and then forget them tomorrow. They must be part of our lives. They should guide every decision.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Verses 5 and 6 are very important. It is a good idea to learn them. They will help us if we worry about the future.
“Trust in the Lord.” People trust many things. Some trust money. Some trust governments. Other people trust luck or fate. You might trust your family or your church. Sometimes all these things will fail. But God never fails. “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble,” Psalm 46:1.
“With all your heart.” Perhaps you trust God sometimes, but not at other times. Some people become Christians, but do not trust God with their whole hearts. God is part of their lives but only part. Maybe they want God at home but not at work.
God wants our whole hearts. We should always desire his wisdom. He wants us to live as Christians at work and at home. We must trust God, even when our lives are difficult. God encourages us to trust him in everything.
“Do not depend on your own understanding.” God is wiser than we are. We may know many things, but God knows everything. We must not be proud. We must not imagine that we are wiser than God.
The future is unknown to us. But God knows the future. He is able to lead us. He can guide us. We should trust him and not our own ideas. So, we should pray to God about our lives. We should ask him to help us and to guide us.
“Seek His will in all you do.” These words remind us that life is like a journey or trek. We shall have many experiences. Some experiences will be good. Other experiences will be bad. Wherever we are, we should think about God. We should remember God’s place in our lives. If life is like a trek, then we must follow God. He knows the right trail. His way is the right way.
“He will show you which path to take”’ Another translation is, “He will clear the path for you to follow.” We can trust God to guide us.
Today on our Trek of Proverbs, we learned some important lessons about trusting God to guide and direct us. God will go before us and show us the path to take and clear it for us before we arrive. When we do find obstacles on our trail, He will give us the wisdom to continue on. Think about these points for today and join us tomorrow as we continue with Proverbs 3 and learn about the wrong types of wisdom and intelligence on another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom on Wisdom-Trek.com, or subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spreaker, or YouTube so the episodes will be downloaded to you automatically each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!