Daily Bible Reading 19th March 2025 // Proverbs 3:1-10
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
2 for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.
3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them round your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favour and good success
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.
9 Honour the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
The thoughts in 3, 7, and in 9, 10, both flow from 'acknowledge Him' in 6, which means 'to know Him, and have fellowship with Him'. To walk in fellowship with God means (a) to depart from evil and (b) to honour Him with our substance, to do right by Him in financial matters. The reference to being 'wise in your own eyes', which could be paraphrased 'don't give yourself spiritual airs', is significant in the general context of the teaching of these chapters. It can hardly be accidental that there has been such an emphasis on a mundane, down to earth attitude to spiritual life. It is the very ordinariness of it that is so important because it stands over against the hankering after excitement and thrill that can be so fleshly a manifestation. Such a hankering is an indication of something not right in the spiritual life. Not so does spiritual health develop. Real stability comes through moral categories. The 'honouring' in 9 is to be understood in terms of the general biblical emphasis on tithing (cf Malachi 3:10). It is possible to take these words in the wrong way. If the motive in tithing is really that our barns should he filled with plenty, this must surely be to dishonour, not honour, God. But if we honour Him with our substance out of love and gratitude to Him and a conscious sense that all we have we owe to Him, then God's promise is sure; 'Them that honour Me I will honour'. This is all part of the all round integrity of life spoken of earlier, both moral and material realms are included within its compass.