Sunday Devotional: Proverbs 3:8
This will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
Last week we discussed Proverbs 3:7, and the need to fear the Lord and turn from evil. Verse 8 appears to suggest that a benefit of doing this is “healing to your body and refreshment [literally, “drink”] to your bones.” Does this promise physical health to those that obey verse 7? Experience would suggest this in not always the case. Fearing God and turning from evil will not necessarily spare the body from sickness and suffering. What does this mean, then?
First, we should note that the Book of Proverbs is not a collection of guarantees. These are wise sayings and principles that the people of God should use to guide their life. The benefits mentioned in this book are real. However, they are not to be understood as absolute sureties. Fear of the Lord is, after all, the beginning of wisdom, and so the wise man recognizes that it is more important to obey God than it is to look for the benefits of obedience.
That said, I think there is a physical benefit to obeying the command in verse 7. God is our creator, and He designed our bodies to function a particular way. Oftentimes, the physical outworking of sin in our lives is a perversion of the way our bodies were intended to be used, and will, therefore result in harm (e.g., murder, promiscuity, substance abuse, gluttony.). Even if the sin is not of a physical nature, it can have a physical consequence (anger leading to violence, hatred leading to murder, and so on). This is not always the case, but harboring and nursing that sin can still have physical consequences. Unresolved anger, or feelings of self-pity can affect one’s mood, which affects one’s overall physical well-being, for example.
This is where that fear of the Lord we spoke of last week, and the resulting desire to flee evil, will bring health and refreshment to the body. When our minds and our hearts are set upon the glory and honor of God, we will avoid those attitudes and behaviors that dishonor Him. And there is a blessing that comes with pleasing God that transforms our attitude. This, in turn, has physical health benefits, because in this frame of mind, we are operating as our Lord and Creator designed us to operate: with the desire to love Him and glorify Him with our lives.
May that be our attitude this week, that we might experience health and refreshment, regardless of our physical circumstances.
Have a great week!
Good study of a verse. I have a few suggestions. I’d like to hear more about the context of the verse, and how you came to your conclusions (ex-website,mentor, etc.)
also…
“Even if the sin is not of a physical nature… ANGER leading to violence” It sounds like you are saying that anger and hatred are sins. So do you think Jesus was a sinner? because Jesus got angry (John 2:15-17) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%202:15-17&version=NIV
Thanks, Jenny, and thank you for your comment. Have you read the previous devotions in this series? I started with Proverbs 3:5 and finished here with Proverbs 3:8, so I am trying to fit it with the context of what went before. Also, bear in mind, this is meant as a devotional, not an in-depth study of the passage, so I’m not going into a lot of depth here for that reason.
As to where I came to my conclusions, hopefully I am deriving them first from the passage itself, and then from the broader context of Scripture as a whole. See the “About” page if you want to know more about my theological background.
When we exercise anger and hatred, we do so as sinful people. God is without sin, and everything He does is good and just. Therefore, when God exercises anger and hatred, He does so without sin, justly, and for His glory and the good of His people. When Jesus got angry, there was no sin at all in his actions. We can’t say the same about our anger. Our exercise of anger and hatred more often than not results in sin, if it didn’t come from sin in the first place. So yes, I think it’s safe to say that most of the time, anger and hatred in the hearts of people are sin.
I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to respond if you want to go into this further. 🙂