Riches, Honor, and Long Life
I believe there are some things that almost all people want to have in their lives. These things may not be universal, but I have seen them everywhere I have been in my life. People want to have plenty of money. They want their finances to be secure and to be plenty to meet their needs for years to come. They want to have honor. They want people to think well of them. Yes, I am sure some people don't care about this, but most do. Finally, most people want long life. They want to live a long time and not have to think about dying anytime soon.
The Bible tells us the only way to really have these things, It is not the way that most people are trying to have them, though. (Proverbs 22:4) "True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life." Who would have thought it? However, if we will just contemplate these two things, we will be able to see what God is telling us. Then, we can apply them in our lives, so God can bless us.
True humility is a rare quality. We have to really understand that without Christ we can do nothing, so we can't rely on ourselves. That leads us to submit to God with all of our heart. True humility is not just acting humble on the outside, it is doing away with pride in our heart. When we do that, others will see it and honor us for being different in a great way. It can even lead to riches, because we will not want to have stuff to bring us pleasure, we will want what Christ has for us.
True humility works together with fear of the Lord. It makes it easier for us to respect God, to be in awe of Him, and to fear what will happen if we don't do His will. If we will do those things, we will work hard as God commands. We will save our money and use it wisely. People will see us doing God's will, and they will give us honor for being a godly person. God will show us how to take care of our bodies, since they are temples of the Holy Spirit, so we will be physically healthy longer. I pray that we will all be truly humble and fear the Lord as we should. It will have great benefits.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 23-25.