DAY 15.
In the light of the last study today we look at the promise found in Proverbs 3 v 6 'in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths'.
The promise 'I will be with thee' is demonstrated by 'I will direct thy paths' these spiritual twins are the experience of those seeking to walk on the path of righteousness.
To see the back ground of these promises we need to first of all look up 1 Chronicles 28 v 9 to see the conditions of the promise in Proverbs 3 v 6.
David has handed over the reigns as king of Israel to Solomon now the God of David is beginning to commune with Solomon the new king, the terms of leadership of Gods people are just the same.
The chronicler reveals several truths to Solomon that are as operative to the led as the leader so we do well to look at them closely.
'In all thy ways' it says in Proverbs 3 v 6 and in 1 Chronicles 28 it says 'to know God' then 'serve Him with a perfect heart' now that is a mighty challenge but not one to shy away from.
To 'serve' literally means to serve under a conqueror, it brings out the idea of submitting the subordinate to the superior, Solomon may be king but he only rules under the hand of the Living God.
He is the servant of the Living God and should never forget it, but then how often do we look at ourselves as being servants of the Risen Christ something we should never forget.
A 'perfect heart' and 'a willing mind living in harmony with Gods will and purposes, the outward state of realising the work that has been put out for us to perform by the Lord.
The heart is right with God so the mind seeks to know what is right and then to go forward to achieve what is set out for us to both be and do.
Now what a challenge this is to us today, in an ill disciplined age when Christians are doing what is right in their own eyes and that can be very far from what the Lord expects of us.
We need to stop regularly to check our state before the Lord, our standing in Christ is secure but whether our state is as clear is another thing.
Solomon knew experimentally the difference between a perfect heart and an unwilling mind we only have to read Ecclesiastes to see this.
The mind is as likely to go after fleshly desires and pleasures rather than to go after righteousness and holiness, Solomon warns us to have a pure heart and a submitted will to the Lord.
'The searcheth the heart' the thought of inquiring or close scrutiny is involved here, a thoroughly deep examination that brings out the hidden or secret faults some unknown to us.
He 'understands our imaginations' to 'understand' means not only to observe but to discern the truth in the thoughts, 'imagination' points to the formation of an idea it brings out the thought of conception of plans and purposes.
The Living God discerns the motive behind the thought and intents as well as the outworking of it, not only the desire but the intention also and that covers every part of our life.
We can conclude that this is a very tall order but this is the standard set that we should be aiming at it is so much higher than the pathetic one the church has set out for us to live in today.
God has set the standard so to lift us up and to bring us closer to Him self so that we can commune with Him as we walk along the path of righteousness.
We should note the clause 'if you seek Him' because the choice is ours, there is a deliberate move on our part seeing that our Father made the first move by sending His Son to rescue us in the first instance.
He has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to aid us during our walk and to do the refining work necessary to bring us into Christ likeness.
It is for us to seek the Lord with all of our being so as to commune with Him as friend with friend, in other words in a loving intimate relationship.
Solomon knew such a fellowship by communing with the Lord daily and that gives him the right to instruct us to 'take heed' or pay attention carefully to what he is saying.
Let us return to the Proverbs 3 and in doing so mark the phrase 'my son' it recurs regularly in the opening seven chapters, a delightful phrase that brings us into the intimacy with God.
Solomon writes to his readers as those who are enjoying son-ship with God as he knew himself, the position that we are brought into by the Lord Jesus Christ the greater than Solomon.
It is fantastic truth that though we seem as nothing to the world we are actually in a living relation ship with the Creator God who has put everything available to us that He did to Solomon.
It is the Living God who invites to to get our directions from Him so that we can arrive at the intended goal in life namely dwelling in His presence.
The word 'direct' has several meanings one is to make straight what is crooked it is in seeking the Lord that we soon realise how bent our life is when compared with our Lord Jesus Christ.
It can also mean to become level instead of the up and down pattern of living that we once knew when we held the reins ourselves, there comes a stability when the Lord holds the reins.
It is truly amazing the difference He makes to our life especially when we are submitted to His will and become obedient to His word.
We talk about walking on the straight and narrow path and that is a simple but honest interpretation of this word direct, we can walk tall in the Spirit when we learn to walk in the Spirit.
We should be praying consistently 'Lord direct my paths' we have so much to gain and so little to lose by applying the scriptures to our life both physically and morally as well.
What a promise then we have here for us to apply, so that we can know the divine approval on our life as we seek to walk humbly with our God.
There is another feature in the promise that we should bring out and that is the directions that we are walking in day by day, the areas that need refining by the Holy Spirit.
Solomon knew from personal experience that lax living leads to disaster and that holy living leads to a distinct cutting of from those things that cause us to fall or fail.
So often we fall into the trap of the next verse 7 'being wise in our own eyes' we think we are all right by doing the ritualistic visits to church and to the meetings that are put on.
The Christian life is a whole life involving education, work, pleasures and conversations the twenty four hours and seven days a week and fifty two weeks in the year living.
We are taking the Lord Jesus with us everywhere we go in everything that we do, say and think we are to give account of the whole of our life before our Lord as 1 Corinthians 3 reveals so clearly to us.
The problem is most of us think that judgement is passed through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, well sins awesome judgement has passed forever and we praise the Lord for that fact.
The fact remains there is a judgement that will take place when all of us who have been saved from that Great Judgement must give account of our life in Christ Jesus.
We are to go through the fire that will burn up the dross of base desires and only what was done for the Lord Jesus will stand the test of the fire and go into eternity.
What we received as the directions for our life and have applied them will stand the test of the fire but what we forgot to apply, what we rejected as directions and what we refused to obey will be come ashes or dust before the Lord.
The promise here is for our own benefit so that we can become bold in battle for the Lord and bring pleasure to His heart as a result of our seeking directions of Him.
