And...


I was looking again at this passage in Proverbs 3:5-8
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Reading this very familiar passage I was really stuck by four little words ‘and‘, 'and', ‘and’ & ‘it’!
There are two parts to each of these sentences:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart AND don't lean on your own understanding
In all your ways acknowledge him AND he will direct your paths
Fear the Lord AND depart from evil

For me it spoke about holding on to something and letting go of something else.  Hold onto trusting the lord while letting go of your own understanding;  hold on to acknowledging God and let go of directing your own path. and hold on to the fear of the lord (which by the way is the beginning of all wisdom) and let go of evil things. 

This is a key to moving forward in our Christian faith.   We only have so much room in our hearts to hold things.  We must chose what we hold in our heart.  The bible tells us to guard our hearts, so we need to evaluate what we are holding onto.  Do we hold onto anger or do we let go of that and take hold of God's peace? Do we hold onto selfish pride, or do we make space for humility and gratitude to reside in our hearts?  Do we hang on to sin, or do we relinquish those things, if favour of God's blessing and favour?

According to this passage, when we hold on to the right things, IT will be good for us as then we experience good health.  We see the other blessings of God come when we do things his way too - peace, joy, wholeness, sound minds and prosperity etc when we do things God's way. Whenever we chose to let go of the worldly, selfish things and take hold of God's things, we will experience what God has for us without hinderance.

Today, look into your heart.  What are you holding on to into your heart?  What do you need to let go of?
Letting go of the stuff we need to let go of and taking hold of God's things and ways, will always be better for us.

Have a blessed Saturday.

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