Our Old Testament reading this week is Proverbs 3:5-6, taken today from the Common English Bible (CEB).
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; don’t rely on your own intelligence. Know him in all your paths, and he will keep your ways straight.
This passage contains great wisdom, as brief as it is. Proverbs is full of teaching such as this, reminding us that God has a wonderful plan for us, if we would only listen and follow. We have to make that choice for ourselves, hearing His call and accepting the responsibility it places on us.
Psalm 100:3 tells us “Know that the Lord is God— He made us; we belong to Him. We are His people, the sheep of His own pasture.” When we learn this and begin to understand His all-encompassing love for us, we can begin to live for Him rather than just ourselves. It changes our outlook on everything we do.
God blesses our efforts when we give up our selfish ways and obey instead. We can never make ourselves as happy as God can make us. Trusting in the Lord with all your heart will restore the relationship for which God created us.
Wise and wonderful God, we are willful people, always wanting our own way. Forgive us we pray, and lead us back to the path You intend. Amen.