God Gives Us the Ability to Provide for Ourselves – (Proverbs 16:26)
Daily Proverbs
Daily Bible Study
We live in a fallen world, and because of that people have to labor to provide for themselves and their families. With the fall, sin and death were both ushered into our world and this means all of creation is under the strain of sin. And because of sin, with the fall, the earth would no longer yield its bounty as it once had. After the fall the Lord told Adam and Eve, "by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground." However, despite the fall of humanity and despite our sin nature, God shows general grace toward humanity by giving us the seasons in their due time and giving us the ability to sustain ourselves with nature. Moreover, God has blessed each and every person with a unique set of skills, talents and abilities, with which we can sustain ourselves and thrive in this fallen world, as we live to honor God with our lives. And that's the message of these passages, that God, in His grace, has indeed given us the blessings of work.
And we should count it a blessing when we can use our God given talents and abilities to provide for ourselves, our families and help those in need. We should bless God because we have the ability and opportunity to work and earn a living for ourselves and others. As followers of Christ, we should strive to do honest work! Our heavenly Father has provided for His children and therefore when we cheat, steal or try to get something for nothing, or gain what we do not deserve we not only hurt ourselves; but we dishonor God. And the Lord will chastise His children. He will do so because of the love He has for us. In addition, we must remember the Lord gave us practical wisdom, written in His word the Bible. Wisdom to help us live a good life, a God honoring and prosperous life for ourselves and our families. And through Jesus and the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, we can live a more joyous and abundant life now despite our circumstances within this world. Because of our faith in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit with us always to watch over and guide us in our walk with Christ.