“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;”
Have you ever been canoeing or kayaking?
Canoeing can be a difficult activity for a newbie. First off, you have to carefully get into the canoe. If you carelessly step into the canoe you could flip the whole thing and end up in the water. I’ve seen plenty of people roll into a lake while trying to get into a canoe! Once you are sitting in the seat you have a little more stability but even sitting in the small boat is no easy task. The slightest shift in your weight can send the canoe into a roll.
Canoes require that you center yourself in the canoe. You will fall if you lean. While a canoe is easy to tip over, it is a powerful tool to navigate the water. If you stay centered you can navigate the wind, waves, and rapids with ease.
Proverbs 3:5 gives us a picture of what life looks like when we place our understanding at the center of our lives. Absolute commitment and trust are essential for your walk with Jesus.
The understanding and wisdom of God surpasses any wisdom that we will be able to obtain or reach on our own. Leaning on your own understanding will cause you to be shaky in the decisions that you make, just like a canoe starts to shake when you lean too far one way or the other. Jesus is at the center of everything. He is above all, before all, and in all (Colossians 1:15-17).
Walking with Jesus requires a commitment to trust Jesus’ leadership and lordship for your life.
Trusting Jesus keeps us mindful of the centrality of Jesus.
When we set our eyes on other things we begin to lean away from God and trust in our own abilities. We lose our stability when we rely on our abilities.
Live It:
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Is Jesus the center of your life?
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Where are you tempted to lean on your own understanding and abilities?
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Chase Snyder
Writer, Pastor
Chase Snyder is an author and pastor in Metro Atlanta. Chase’s aim is to help people apply the Bible to their life by take their next step of faith in Jesus. He is the founder of Ministry Bubble – a content creation company that helps people turn their ideas into ministry to serve the local church. Chase writes, speaks, blogs, and hosts the Spiritual Conversations Podcast. He and his wife have two children.
