Well, it’s been a while since I posted on my personal blog.  Things have been a little busy with our new ministry, Around The Corner Ministries, and my focus has been there.  We are on a 40-day devotional journey, so in writing those devotions, I haven’t been able to keep up with my blog.

But here’s a little nugget from scripture I just couldn’t keep to myself. 

I’m studying Proverbs with a group of ladies in my neighborhood, and this week we are in Proverbs 10.  The study asks this question:

Security is the key ingredient of peace.  According to the verses below, what are the different types of security that are ours when we walk in the way of righteousness?

Proverbs 10:2-3 – Ill-gotten gains do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.  The Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger, but He will reject the craving of the wicked.

Proverbs 10:27-30 – The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.  The hope of the righteous is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked perishes.  The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but ruin to the workers of iniquity.  The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

Here are four, that I can immediately see:

·        The security that death holds no fear for me (v. 2, 27)
·        The security that I will not go hungry (v. 3)
·        The security of a refuge (i.e., stronghold) (v. 29)
·        The security of firm footing (i.e. will never be shaken) (v. 30)

Death and hunger are easy to understand, but we must see these as spiritual concepts.  After all, the righteous do suffer physical death, and physical hunger.  The promise that secures us is that we have eternal life, because of the righteousness of Christ in which we stand, and that everything we need for spiritual life and health will be provided as we walk in obedience (practical righteousness).

The word for stronghold is ma`owz, and is translated “strength” in the KJV.  It means a strong or fortified place, a place of safety, a harbor, or refuge.  What is the stronghold?  The way of the Lord.  It is in following God’s way, living in obedience to the commands of His word, walking the path that He lays out before us because of His claim on us as Creator.  The path of God (His way) is the place of strength and security. 

To be shaken (removed/KJV) is to totter, slip, be moved, overthrown, waver, or fall down.  Who will not fall down or slip?  The righteous – the ones who stand in Christ.  We will not be moved or overthrown, because we are protected by the very power of God.  Who can overthrow Christ?  Who can make Him stumble or fall down?  How can God waver?  It is impossible, and as we stand in Him, we are protected.

We have the path of God underneath us,
the protection of God around us,
the provision of God to nourish us,
and the promise of God to sustain us.

That, my friends, is the security that provides peace!


Comments

Popular Posts