Wholehearted Followers of Christ

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Introduction

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas Day! Anyone ready for a new year?! (I thought you might say that.)

A new year, really another day, promises many more opportunities to learn how the Lord is at work in our hearts. It’s good to look forward to another year, another set of possibilities, to resolve in your heart to trust God and live by faith.

Because only when we live by faith are we Wholehearted Followers of Christ, which is ultimately God’s aim for us.

Beware of two temptations

Temptation 1 — Delaying the basic application of godly pursuits

But there’s a temptation to beware of as we look ahead: we need to guard against thinking we’ll start practicing the basics of our faith tomorrow, next week, next month or next year.

This morning we’ll look at Pr 3 together, and we’ll see that there are principles throughout that we can apply beginning today.

Begin today

If we’ll begin applying these principles today, we’ll be more prepared to follow them tomorrow, next week, month and throughout the year. Application is another way of setting your hand to the plow. It goes beyond just letting the thought of it run through our mind and calling it good. Feeling better about ourselves because we’ve thought of something doesn’t do anything for us.

I think about running frequently…but it hasn’t helped my health any because I haven’t done it yet.

Temptation 2 — Trying to take on too much and feeling frustrated because you don’t accomplish it all

It’s not hard to be a great planner. But there’s a difference between a dreamer and a planner.

A dreamer thinks about all the incredible possibilities. They’re less concerned about when and how to make it happen.

A planner identifies what’s reasonable and puts small steps in place to execute those plans. They won’t accomplish everything a dreamer will, but well, neither will the dreamer.

Intro to Pr 3

Today we’ll look at how Proverbs 3 leads us in the right way with relation to the Lord and toward others.

In Prov. 3, we see a third paternal appeal in this book of wisdom. Proverbs often speaks as father and mother, often metaphorically, but it’s worth noting that it draws out the highlight of Christian living that it is within the home — from mom and dad — that the pursuit of biblical wisdom is to be modeled in everyday living and explicitly taught.

The best and most natural way for parents to lead their kids in this pursuit, though, is when we live this way ourselves. It won’t feel forced because it will be an extension of life. In fact, it will be a direct application of this command throughout the Bible.

So let’s begin with ourselves, and pray that God will use it to work its way out into the lives of those closest to us.

Pray

…Amen.

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Follow Christ Wholeheartedly by

1. Remembering God’s Principles Daily

Proverbs 3:1–35 (ESV)

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.

The first several sets of Proverbs open with an instruction (imperative / command), followed by a natural, general outgrowth of that command.

Proverbs are wisdom statements where the result generally holds true. We’re questioning people, so we might ask, “You mean if I remember God’s teaching and let me heart keep his commandments then I’m guaranteed to live for a long time?”

Spiritually, yes. In an earthly sense, following God’s truths generally leads to years of life and peace.

Every Scripture, however must be understood in light of the rest of Scripture.

What would Job say about Pr 3:1-2?

In Job, wisdom is the most prominent theme of the book. Suffering of the innocent (not perfect) is the storyline through which the value of wisdom is couched, but wisdom is the ultimate theological question.

Nearly all the characters in Job’s life, including Job at times, claim to be wise and have the answer. But only at the end when God speaks out of the whirlwind is the issue settled. There is no contest; no human has a legitimate claim on wisdom. God alone is the source of wisdom, and he contributes wisdom as he sees fit.

The proper human response, then, is repentance and submission. As Job himself says:

I had only heard about you before,

but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

I take back everything I said,

and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance. (Job 42:5–6)

(Tremper Longman III, How to Read Proverbs (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2002), 86.)

Remembering means calling to mind with intent to put into practice.

But we often find ourselves doubting if God’s ways are best.

Notice he says, “…let your heart keep my commandments.” Keeping God’s commandments always begins at a heart/belief level and moves out from there to actions.

Remember Jesus said, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34) and again in Mt 15:18, “…what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

In those times we ...

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Follow Christ Wholeheartedly by

2. Remembering God’s Steadfast Love and Faithfulness

When we consider whether to remember

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;

bind them around your neck;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 So you will find favor and good success

in the sight of God and man.

The Lord’s steadfast love and faithfulness are how the Lord reveals his character in covenant relationship to Moses and throughout the OT.

Exodus 34:6 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

We’re to actively remember that this is the Lord! Remember, when we speak of God’s attributes we need to remember that they’re not simply something he possesses. They are who he is. These things flow from him because they are him.

Ḥeseḏ is essentially fidelity to obligations arising from a relationship (Allen P. Ross, “Proverbs,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 916.

ʾemeṯ is essentially that which can be relied on, that which is stable (Stuart, p. 167). The two words together form a compoud meaning: “faithful love.” (Allen P. Ross, “Proverbs,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 916.)

We are to remember these truths about the Lord as they undergird everything we do. When we remember with believing hearts we will obey. Not every time. And often in the process of striving to obey the Lord in one way we sin in another way because we’re growing a little day by day as we remember God’s wisdom and love.

The Bible speaks often of the concept of progressive sanctification: growing progressively, little by little, as we learn how to live by faith. The motive, however, stems from remembering God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.

The third attitude enabling us to follow Christ wholeheartedly is

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3. Trusting the Lord with our whole heart

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.

Brothers and sisters, only God grants success. We may apply effort, wisdom, experience resulting in skill, but at the end of the day the Lord grants success or will frustrate our plans if he sees fit to teach us something in the process.

My dad had me memorize this passage growing up and I’m so thankful because I cannot tell you how frequently it comes to mind. You know why? Because I’m very quick to size up a situation, my skills and know-how, shortcomings and make a decision base on that knowledge. All the while failing to trust the Lord.

ILLUSTRATION

A husband and wife decided to go on a trip together. Actually, it was a business trip for him, but he had invited her to come with him. She was excited about the trip until she learned that her husband was going to be flown to a small town in a twin-engine Cessna plane.

“Honey, I’ve decided not to go,” she said.

“What! Why not?”

"I am not going on a little-bitty, twin-engine Cessna.”

Her husband smiled and knowingly said, “Honey, your faith is too small.”

She quipped, “No, the plan is too small.”

The businessman really wanted his wife to go with him, so he canceled the Cessna and booked travel on a major airline. His wife went with him because, as she put it, “her faith grew because the size of the plane grew.”

The object of her faith determined how much faith she decided to have.

We’re quick to trust one another, or not to trust one another. But friends, only God can really be trusted. We’d be a lot less disappointed in each other if we’d realize that.

It’s not a call to be distrusting toward others and keep them at arm’s length. No, because that’s just another instance of trusting our own ability.

We trust God in every area of life, including what happens when others disappoint us. Usually, it’s because the Lord is teaching us how to more fully rely on him.

A positive and a negative

Positive: trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Negative: do not lean on your own understanding.

If these one of these is inverted, both are inverted. If you do not trust in the Lord with all your heart, you are leaning on your own understanding!

This is reinforced in vv 7-8:

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.

Trusting God rather than self results in increasing moral straightness

When v 6 speaks contains the promise that follows:

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

Making a person’s path straight means making the course of your life one that continually progresses toward a particular goal. in this case, the emphasis is on the moral quality of a believer’s life. It is moral straightness as contrasted with the crooked and perverse ways of the wicked.

When faced with a decision we must ask whether we’re trusting ourself our trusting the Lord with our whole heart. One pastor puts it this way:

Only two options on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self.

A.W. Pink said,

Man will glory either in himself or in God. Man will live either to serve and please himself, or he will seek to serve and please the Lord. None can serve two masters.

When obedient faith is present, the Lord will guide the wholehearted follower of Christ along life’s paths in spite of difficulties and hindrances.

Next, Solomon (remember, speaking to us as beloved children), tells us to

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4. Honor the Lord with Our Wealth

9 Honor 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.

A biblical view of wealth demands using possessions for honoring God. We do this:

by trusting God (v. 5);

by giving the best to God (“first”; cf. Ex 22:29; 23:19; Dt 18:4);

by being fair (vv. 27, 28);

by giving generously (11:25); and

by expressing gratitude for all He gives (Dt 6:10–12).

The result of such faithfulness to honor Him is prosperity and satisfaction. (Now, when we say prosperity, we mean prospering in our relationship with the Lord and others.)

5. Welcome the Lord’s Correction

11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline

or be weary of his reproof,

12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,

as a father the son in whom he delights.

I MAY OR MAY NOT CLOSE BY READING THE REMAINDER OF PROV 3. OR I MAY READ PART OF IT.

Communion Transition and Prayer

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