Proverbs 3:7&8: “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones.”
Very strange use of words—expressions not common to us. Let’s define these words. To be wise in my own eyes sounds like I have a healthy self-image. What the verse is implying is more akin to our terms conceited, prideful, self-reliant, etc. While the first two terms are annoying, the third—self-reliant—is esteemed in our culture. It is viewed as a positive; however, when an individual, because of his or her “wisdom” or “self-reliance,” fails to see the greatness of God and his or her own need of Him, then these attributes have become marred. An individual with true wisdom “fears” the Lord, meaning to give Him “reverence” or to “revere” Him. To see Him as Creator and Lord is to have true wisdom. Anything less is not as great as the purpose for which God gave man and woman his and her ability to reason, think, and ponder. To have the wisdom, therefore, that causes us to see God as God with reverence for Him is true wisdom. He is the center of the universe, not us. He deserves our worship, not us. In like manner, he holds our every breath, not us. This is the fruit of true wisdom, and it leads us “to depart from evil.”
In this context, evil originates spiritually, affects us morally, and then is acted out in the physical arena of life. Just like the bad fruit on a tree is not the fault of the fruit but of the tree—down into the roots—so evil, whether it is an immoral thought or a terrible action, originates from deep within, resulting from a disconnect with a Holy God. Not to have reverence for God is not to recognize His rightful claim over us as Creator, Lord, and Father. To lack this, therefore, means that we are the judge and jury of our lives, determining what we believe is right or wrong. There is a proverb that is rather sobering, “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death.” This is a proverb that literally freaked me out as a young man. How is it that I can believe I am doing the right things but find out, when it’s too late, that I missed the mark? Was this some cruel joke where God changed the rules and did not tell anyone? These were my early thoughts before I learned about Christ and His sacrifice, so that we could be redeemed from our own sinful nature’s inability to truly follow God’s laws. Once I understood and saw His sacrificial action to redeem me, then it became clear that He is a God of great love and that it is up to me to accept or reject His offer of salvation. The action of rejecting His rightful claim over us is the very core and root of sin. Spiritually speaking, this poisons the soul, because from this comes all that is immoral, prideful, and self-focused.
In context, therefore, a correct relationship with a Holy God causes in me a desire to be holy. Just like children growinWig up want to be like their parents, so I want (we should want) to be like my Heavenly Father. Though this takes time, and often we fall short, the Holy Spirit is like a steady stream of righteousness that if given His time with us will wash away all that is not holy and replace it with the graces of the Spirit. It’s not “rocket science.” It’s “relational science” (to invent a phrase). The more time I spend with Him, the more I become like Him, and “it shall be health to my navel and marrow to my bones.” This is an unusual way, at least to us, to say that strength and health—spiritual, emotional, and physical—will grow in us. The “navel” and “marrow” were considered sources of life and strength in the Hebrew culture, and though these are unusual choices of words, one can understand the reasoning behind it.
The nature of sin in us tears us down through the years due to our having to justify our actions and deal with a guilty conscience or ignore it until it no longer speaks. These are all negative effects (and there are many more) of being ruled by our sinful nature. So why would we not want righteousness or right living according to God’s design for our life? Remember the proverb, “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death.” Just as a blind man cannot see the physical world, we are spiritually blinded without the insight of the Holy Spirit and cannot see or comprehend the “expanse of God” and His righteousness. So we are in need of His help, for no man or woman can live a life that mirrors the holiness of God. We all fall short. His life must be infused within us via faith in Christ’s atonement for us—something we have discussed many times. As someone very close to me said, “I can hear the same message all my life and not get it, but one day, when it is said just a little differently and when my heart is quieted, I hear it and it makes sense.” So repetition is useful because our journeys are all unique.
Father God,
Help me to understand that whatever wisdom I might attain, it is nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God. True wisdom makes You big and makes me small. A big God equals smaller problems. A big me and a small God equals larger problems. I am more free when You are big and I am small. Also thank you that when I see us being big, as in times of crisis when we think of others first, I see how we were “created in your image” and were meant to live. Please give strength and hope to those families who lost their loved ones in these recent tragedies. Thank you and Amen.