God’s Wisdom for 2020

Scripture Text

Prov. 3:5-10

Intro: There are some things we must prioritize to have a successful year from God’s point of view. God through Solomon gives us His wisdom for successful living.

I. Trust in God. Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV)  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  a. Your trust in God for this coming year must be with all your heart. In other words rely wholly and securely upon God's promises and divine intervention for help and relief in all your affairs and dangers. We must not listen to the competing voices for our attention. God’s word is forever settled in Heaven. [Ps.119:89]
 b. Don’t depend on your own understanding. All the wisdom a person may acquire can never replace the need for full trust in God's superior ways. There must be a healthy distrust of self, an acknowledgment that we do not know what is best for us, that we are not capable of guiding ourselves. Jeremiah 10:23 says: “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”
 c. Seek God’s will in all you do. Proverbs 3:6-7 (NKJV) 6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. ⁷  Do not be wise in your own eyes. a. Don’t be conceited and think you know it all. There must be an acknowledgment of the Lordship of Christ. We must pray daily for His guidance. Every area of our lives must be turned over to His control. We must have no will of our own, only a single pure desire to know His will and to do it. If these conditions are met, the promise is that God shall direct our paths. He may do it through the Bible, the advice of godly Christians, through circumstances, by the Holy Spirit as we read His word, or through a combination of these. But if we wait, He will make the guidance so clear that we can’t miss it.

II. Fear the Lord.  Proverbs 3:7-8 (NKJV) ⁷  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. ⁸  It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.   a. Means specifically a sense of respect, awe, and submission to His deity. Proof of our fear of God means we turn from and hate all evil and arrogance.  Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. [Prov.1:7] When we fear the Lord we will obey His word. It’s the wise thing to do. We recognize He is in control of everything and we live accordingly.  b. Consequences of fearing the Lord. [Prov.3:8] Health in one's bones suggests that spiritual and physical health is related. When we reverence and serve the Lord and obey His word it not only makes us spiritually healthy but also physically healthy. 

III. Honor the Lord.  Proverbs 3:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹  Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; ¹⁰  So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.  a. We can honor the lordship of Christ in the stewardship of our possessions. We give to God first before anything else because we recognize that all we have belongs to Him. We are stewards, responsible for our use of what God has given us. It is our privilege to choose a modest standard of living for ourselves and then put everything above that to work for God, and trust Him for the future. [V:10] When we do, He will not let us suffer lack. Sometimes our blessings may be of a spiritual nature as well as physical, but it is still true that we cannot out give the Lord. He has promised to meet all our needs according to His riches in glory. [Phil. 4:19]

Conclusion: If we follow Solomon’s advice in these scriptures this year we will be pleasing to God our Father and we will be successful in all we do.

 Invitation: It is impossible to please God unless you first confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and then invite Him into your life to take charge of you and lead you in the way you should go. If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, call on Him now!