The third chapter in Proverbs further teaches us to love God and love each other. To have fulfillment in life, seek God in everything you do. We are instructed to always bring love and faithfulness with us wherever we go, written on our hearts. By doing this, we will win favor in the sight of the Lord. The chapter is best summarized by one of the most quoted lines in all the Proverbs.

“Trust in the LORD with your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5 NIV

This reinforces the idea that we must be practicing Christians and not live for this world. To put your trust in God and not in your own understanding is hard to do in a society that constantly tells us to trust our own hearts. God constantly tells us not to do this, but to be fully committed to Christ.

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV

For many, this is a major challenge. People constantly think about money. The first thing most people do on pay day is put money side for debts and utilities. What we should be doing is putting ten percent aside for God before anything else. This may mean cutting out some subscription services or not eating out as much, but God promises to bless us exponentially. This is something we implemented recently, and we have been blessed so much since making this simple change to our lifestyle and to our thinking.

Verses 13 through 15 remind us of how people hunt for treasure. If you told one hundred people that one of them owns something that could currently be sold for ten million dollars, chances are that all of them would be searching endlessly for that ‘something’ they may or may not have. But, God instructs us that that is how we should be seeking divine wisdom. Nothing can compare to divine wisdom, but we have a hard time seeing beyond earthly values.

“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.”

Proverbs 3:13-15 NIV

If you keep the wisdom and wear it as stated in verse 22, you will not be afraid when you lie down, and you will sleep well. With divine wisdom, the Lord will protect you, and you will be on the right side of history on judgment day.

Chapter three concludes with more instructions on how to live a wise life. Be generous, show mercy, don’t lie, love our neighbor, don’t slander, don’t envy, and don’t partake in perverted activity are but a few final commands from God in this chapter. I could never say anything better than God, so I will end this as Proverbs 3 ends:

“The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame.”

Proverbs 3:35 NIV