Digging Into the Word: Proverbs 3:9-10

 

It's Sunday! I hope you're all having a blessed August so far! Once again, it's time to take a look at the next few verses in Proverbs. If you're new here, this is my Proverbs study. I'm slowly working through the book of Proverbs. I share a few verses at a time, as well as my thoughts. If you're interested in checking out past Proverbs studies, see their links at the end of this post. Let's dig in, shall we?

Honor the Lord with your possessions,

And with the firstfruits of all your increase;

So your barns will be filled with plenty,

And your vats will overflow with new wine.

~Proverbs 3:9-10

How Do We Handle Possessions?

Everything we own should be used to honor the Lord. After all, everything we own is actually His, is it not? Psalm 24:1, as well as many other verses, tells us this. I could go into a whole separate blog post about decluttering those things that aren't being used for anything honorable. But I won't. I think you see where I'm going with this one.

Also, give to God first of your increase. This means not giving Him what you may have left, after using what you "need" first. Give to God first, and then trust that He will provide for all of your needs. This can be very hard for some people to do. And I get it. My family has seen some pretty tough financial times. Many, many others have seen far worse. So I can't speak for everyone, and no one can speak for me. Ah, but see what happens when we look at others instead of Jesus? What does God say? Just look at the above 2 verses! If we honor Him and trust Him with all we have, "our barns will be filled with plenty, and our vats will overflow with new wine." To me, that says that not only will God provide all of our needs, we will have an abundance! Perhaps this includes not only needs, but some of our desires also.

Getting Practical

How can we apply this to our lives? I always say, first you need to pray! Look at verse 9. Is there anything you own that is dishonoring to God? Is there any way that you can use it to honor Him instead? If not, it likely needs to go! How can you honor God with the "firstfruits of your increase?" Again, pray! It is between you and God what you give and who you give it to, in order to serve Him.

Finally, how can we trust God to provide for our needs? I think you know what I'm going to say. If you first need to pray for God to increase your faith and trust in Him, do that. He honors the honest prayers of those truly seeking Him.

*******************

I apologize if it seems like I'm being a bit vague here. I don't really feel like I can give you a specific to-do list for this topic! Since I depend on prayer and communicating with God through His Word, I want to encourage you to do the same! Pray, read God's Word, and pray for answers.

I would love for you to add to the discussion, though, and share your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks for reading everyone, and I hope you all have a blessed week!

1-Proverbs 1:1-7
2-Proverbs 1:8-9
3-Proverbs 1:10-19
4-Proverbs 1:20-27
5-Proverbs 1:28-33
6-Proverbs 2:1-9
7-Proverbs 2:10-22
8- Proverbs 3:1-2
9-Proverbs 3:3-4
10-Proverbs 3:5-6
11-Proverbs 3:7-8