Do you ever pray for protection - for yourself or for your family? I have. How we want our children to be safe. How we want our spouses to have safety when traveling, when away from us. The thing about chapter 2 of Proverbs that stands out to me is the descriptions of safety. It is in verses 7 - 8. This comes from God ... but notice what God provides ...
He provides victory for the upright
He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless
He guards the way of the just
He protects the way of His faithful ones.
That's it! That's what I want ... so I see insight in where to gain these things. Pursue uprightness ... the word pertains to that which is not crooked. Pursue being an upright person. Then walk blamelessly. This word means integrity. Are you a person of integrity? Am I? It matters! Third ... be a just person. This is a court term. It means being fair. Do you treat people fairly? Do you try? Do I? And lastly, be faithful. Aahh ... the beautiful characteristic of faithfulness. This provides me with my prayer for this day ...
Lord ... I long to be upright in your eyes. Help me. I long to be a woman of integrity. Help me. I want to treat people fairly. Give me eyes to see when I am not ... and help me. I long to be faithful ... to You first, to my family members, to my friends. Help me. Jesus is upright, full of integrity, just and faithful. May I be more like Him this day than I have ever been before.
Verses 1-6 stand out to me. I hear Solomon saying "Don't walk in your own wisdom, and you really don't need to 'muscle it up' on your own - God will give it to you - but here's how bad you have to want it..." and then there's that list of active verbs (an order of operations, perhaps?): accept my words...store up my commands...turn your ear to wisdom...apply your heart to understanding...call out for insight... cry aloud for understanding... look for it... search for it (I get the feeling he wants the word "ransack" here!)... if you do all that, then you will understand the fear of the LORD (i.e., the beginning of wisdom) and find the knowledge of God."
ReplyDeleteSounds a bit obsessive, doesn't it? (Actually, it sounds like me when I'm walking out the door and can't find my car keys!) But we have no problem being obsessive about things like the news, or our favorite sports teams, or other similar things... and this sort of "obsession" yields eternal benefits!
We got a late start. Just read chapters 1 and 2 last night. I love 2:10 "For wisdom will enter your mind, and knowledge will delight your heart." A fantastic promise to those who honor the Lord and His commands! Simple but lovely.
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