Trust in the Lord with all of your heart
And lean not on your own understanding
Acknowledge the Lord in all of your ways
and He will make your paths straight Proverbs3:5-6
In Hebrew culture the heart is not the seat of emotions but the control centre of life. In Hebrew poetry one often has parallel lines. So
--- Trust in the Lord with all of your heart (and)
--- Acknowledge the Lord in all of your ways
are parallels - they're driving at the same point.
The core thrust of this passage is that we are to place all our trust in Him we need to involve Him in our day to day decisions. We need to be willing to sign the name of Jesus next our name on every credit card slip and every contract and letter.
In Hebrew culture life is often represented as a pathway. The image created here is that it is better to walk a pathway _with_ God than to blaze a trail on our own. With God at our side, our pathway will be straight and not crooked.
When we _lean_ on our own understanding without Trusting and Acknowledging Him, our pathways start to twist and turn. Even if we mean well and start straight, our lives are not meant to be lived for ourselves - we are designed and created to Trust and Acknowledge Him. When we _lean_ on our own understanding, it is mutiny.
BUT let's be clear: This is not mindless Christianity. We don't have to leave our brains at the door. It is about reliance on God. We _lean_ on a walking stick when we are injured, tired or going through heavy terrain. We should thoughtfully and mindfully lean on God.
When we do that and refuse to be led by our own thinking and desires, then God is able to make our paths straight - not necessarily smooth, but straight!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
