Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths
History Behind These Verses
These verses are found in the book of Proverbs. The Hebrew word for proverb means “comparison, similar, or parallel. The ideas found in Proverbs relate directly to this definition by comparing the ways of wisdom to the ways of foolishness. Throughout Proverbs, we are told that the way of wisdom will lead to life and the way of foolishness will lead to destruction and death.
The key word in the Book of Proverbs is “wisdom,” meaning: the ability to live life skillfully. To live a godly life in an ungodly world, is rather difficult sometimes. Solomon, the author of many of the Proverbs, knew how difficult life could be. As a way to help guide other believers, he documented his wisdom. During his lifetime it is said that he authored over 3,000 wisdom statements. Some of Solomon's God-given wisdom statements were placed in the Bible by the Holy Spirit Himself. The Holy Spirit wants these proverbs to help guide each one of us even today. This wisdom does not expire!
Our scripture for this week, Proverbs 3: 5-6, encourages us to follow the way of wisdom. In other words, we should be familiar with what God would want us to do in any situation that we may encounter. One of the best ways to actually walk in wisdom is to actually study the book of Proverbs and apply what we learn to our everyday lives.
There are necessary steps that one must follow to gain Godly wisdom. First a person must acquire KNOWLEDGE by studying God's Word. Second, that person must apply that acquired knowledge to fitting situations in their lives. There is a process to gain wisdom. One must actually DO what they have learned! It does no good to read and study God's Word if we are not going to apply what we learn to our lives!
Knowing the Bible but not APPLYING its wisdom to our lives would be just plain silly! It would be like studying for years to become a master chef, then choose to serve your dinner guests spam sandwiches!!! Unless a master chef puts his/her culinary knowledge to use, it is simply wasted knowledge!
Key Words
Direct Your Paths
Direct - aim (something) in a particular direction or at a particular person
Paths - routes, courses, or tracks along which something moves
Paths is a plural word, meaning there is more than one path. This means that there are different paths for each of us. We were not created to walk down the same tracks. Each one of us has our own God inspired destiny. Because of this, we must all ask for individual instructions from our Heavenly Father. We cannot simply live on auto-pilot by following the way of the people around us. God has a special and unique plan for each one of us! He created each of us for a divine purpose! He is trying to guide each one of us toward our own specific path. We must EACH acknowledge Him and seek His voice!! God is waiting to direct each one of us PERSONALLY!
