Proverbs 3:5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
All is a strong word. All means all. Every last one of our desires, thoughts, and choices must flow from complete trust in God. That’s wisdom.
But anyone reading this who is honest has to admit that we never trust God with ALL of our heart. Mixed motives abound. Half-hearted efforts are our norm. We are tossed and turned with every new wind.
Proverbs 3:5 is the wisdom version of the first commandment – Thou shalt have no other gods before God. In the same way that no person has ever kept this command, no person has ever been truly wise. No one has ever trusted with ALL their heart.
Except one.
Jesus. He trusted completely. He trusted whole-heartedly. He trusted the Father even to the point of giving up his life while carrying the shame and condemnation of our cross. Our curse.
Now, by our union with Christ, we share Christ’s heart, the new heart promised to us by the New Covenant. Trust with the whole heart is now both possible, and inevitable. The Christ in you has left no part of his heart untouched by God’s love, and he has left no part of your heart untouched by his love. Where does this leave us? It leaves us with the ability to live out Proverbs 3:5. We can keep in step with the Spirit, not the flesh. We can obey from the heart, not just from behavior modification. We can trust without understanding, not trust our own understanding.
We can live and love like Christ.
You: What has been your motivation in following Christ?
You in Christ: How does God’s love for you in Christ motivate you?
Christ in you: Where do you see your desires becoming more like the desires of Jesus?
Pray: Father, thank you for changing my heart and making it possible to live a life like Christ’s, a life of trust. Amen.
To Live is Christ 