|
|
Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 1st January 2006TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART! Pastor Linton SmithThis time last year the world was reeling from the Boxing Day tsunami. That was followed by terrorist attacks and then by a devastating earthquake in Kashmir. What will 2006 hold? For us as a church it looks like being a very eventful year as we watch the new building taking shape. What does it hold for each of us personally? We may have plans.. even exciting plans.. but not one of us knows what lies ahead. I read the other day of a grandma and her 10 year old granddaughter boiling eggs for breakfast. The 10 yr old said, Pity we can’t open them up to see how they’re doing. The grandmother commented, “Meddling with tomorrow before its time, like opening a partly cooked egg, would spoil both today and tomorrow” [RBC/ODB/27-12-05]. The wisest thing to do is to leave tomorrow alone.. and trust God.. who alone knows what it holds. With that in mind.. today.. we are looking at a few verses from Proverbs 3 – a favorite with many.. Proverbs 3:5-8.. If we hear these words and put them into practice each of us will make 2006 the best it can be. They teach us to enter 2006 with.. o A HEALTHY FEAR OF GOD. In Proverbs 3:5,7 we read.. Trust in the LORD with all your heart.. Then in vs 7.. fear the LORD.. Think about Who the LORD is.. and we will fear Him with healthy fear. Moses helps us to think about Who He is.. Deuteronomy 10:14,17.. To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.. the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. The entire universe belongs to Him. He created it! He is God of gods and LORD of lords.. none can match Him.. He is mighty.. awesome. Get a feel for how awesome He is.. go out at night.. away from the city lights.. look into the night sky.. ponder the stars.. billions of them.. billions of kilometers away.. and marvel at the One Who created them! Think about what He is like.. and we will fear Him with a healthy fear. Moses says.. He shows no partiality.. has no favorites.. Peter refers to that.. and writes to people like us.. 1 Peter 1:17.. Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. He will judge our work as believers.. the way we have lived our lives for Him.. and stand in awe of that day.. when He calls us to give an account! Think about what He has done.. and we will fear Him with a healthy fear. He created the universe.. created humankind in His own image.. created the nation of Israel.. promised that one of their descendants would bring blessing to all nations.. sent Jesus.. the Son of God.. in fulfillment of that promise.. He was crucified just as God planned.. then God raised Him from the dead.. offers forgiveness to all who will believe in Him.. promises He will return one day as King of kings and Lord of lords.. and warns us that will be a day of judgment! Think about what He can do.. and we will fear Him with a healthy fear. Jesus said to His friends.. His followers.. people who would face opposition.. even death.. and find it very tempting to deny their faith.. Luke 12:4,5.. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. God has power to throw us into hell.. He alone has that power.. But when we believe in Jesus.. we are put right with God.. forgiven.. and there is no way that a forgiven person will be thrown into hell! Be amazed at that… be grateful.. ponder what would have been if He had not sent Jesus.. if Jesus had not died in our place.. and we had not heard the message… and believed.. and were saved.. and tremble! Fear Him with healthy fear.. a mixture of amazement, gratitude, love and fear! o A WILLINGNESS TO TRUST GOD. In Proverbs 3:5,6 we read.. 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. Trust God.. and not your own wisdom! Matthew Henry comments, Place your entire confidence in the wisdom, power and goodness of God. Abraham did this. Paul writes about Him in Romans 4:19-21.. He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. His own wisdom.. understanding.. would have said.. It is impossible! But he did not lean on his own understanding.. He put his trust in God! Not everyone is full of faith as that. 500 years later Abraham’s descendants faced a challenge.. and baulked at it. God had told them to go up into the land that would be their future home.. and they said. We can’t do it.. the people there are too strong.. they will wipe us out. They leaned on their own understanding.. their own resources.. not on what God could do.. and baulked at the challenge. As a result they wandered in the desert for 40 years.. until all but a few people of that generation had died.. Moses reminded their descendants of this.. Deuteronomy 8:2,3.. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. In those 40 years.. God taught these people how much they needed Him.. humbled them.. showing them.. the only way to live is by what He says. During those 40 years.. He fed them.. cared for them.. Peter may well have had this in mind when he wrote.. 1 Peter 5:6,7.. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Don’t lean on your own understanding.. lean on God.. because He cares for you! But does God care? Yes! In Luke 12 Jesus tells us to fear God.. and immediately goes on.. Luke 12:6,7.. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. God cares for you. Fear God with a healthy fear.. and trust Him. Do not be afraid of what life may throw at you! Cast your anxieties on Him.. and trust Him to guide you. In Proverbs 3:6 we are told.. in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. He will make your paths straight. The word used here is used of digging a channel to direct running water.. We used to water oranges that way.. set the water pumping.. running.. then go ahead with a spade.. directing it.. That is what God will do.. when we acknowledge how much we need God and include Him in all our plans!
o A WILLINGNESS TO OBEY GOD. In Proverbs 3:7 we read.. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. These words remind me of Adam and Eve. God gave them clear instructions.. eat of any tree you like.. but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.. they chose to eat that fruit.. chose to choose for themselves what was good and what was evil.. to do what was right in their own eyes.. to be wise in their own eyes.. It is so natural to do that. Some choose to drive at whatever speed suits them.. even if it is 200 km per hour in an 80 zone.. others choose follow their own wisdom and ignore what God says about such things as taking life.. adultery.. stealing.. lying.. greed.. It is so natural to think like that.. because we are all children of Adam and Eve.. But it is not the way to live.. to make 2006 the best it can be.. In Deuteronomy 10:12,13 Moses says.. And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? Decrees summed up by Jesus in two commands.. Love God with all our heart, soul and mind.. and love our neighbor as we love ourselves! Listen to God.. trust Him.. do as He says.. Peter says the same to us.. 1 Peter 1:14.. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. And Jesus says in Luke 11:28.. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. Proverbs said.. vs 8.. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. You will be the healthier for it! Moses said.. these commands are for your good.. And Jesus said.. this is the way of blessing. Make 2006 the best it can be. Enter it with a healthy fear of God.. a willingness to trust Him.. a willingness to obey Him.
|