Five Lessons for Living from Proverbs – 4

There are lots of people giving all kinds of advice for being healthy and strong. But what is the most important thing you can do to achieve good health? I am exploring lessons for living from Proverbs 3:7-8:

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones (Proverbs 3:7-8).

This lesson for living gives us three important steps for healthy bodies:

• Don’t be wise in your own eyes—in other words, be a truly humble person, not a know-it all. Be teachable and willing to learn from others.
• Fear the Lord. That means have a holy fear and reverence for God, and fear doing things that displease him or bring shame to his name. Can you remember as a child having a fear of being punished by your parents or your teachers? That fear of the consequences of your wrong behavior probably kept you from a lot of unhappy experiences, right? It’s not the kind of fear that makes you afraid of the other person, but the kind of fear that makes you want to please them and make them proud of you. That’s the kind of fear we need when it comes to obeying the Lord and living by his principles.
• Then, the third thing is to shun evil. The Bible teaches us there is always a way of escape from any temptation we encounter. We just have to look for the escape route. Shunning evil means not taking that first step in the wrong direction. Not entertaining that first impure thought which could lead to an impure action.

If you want health for your body and strong bones, be humble, fear the Lord, and shun evil. That doesn’t mean you’ll never be sick. Remember, proverbs are not promises but principles. But if you practice these three things, you are far more likely to have good health and just plain feel good!

Proverbs offers such practical help and advice, and you are wise and smart when you pay attention.