Step 6: The Essentials
Proverbs 16:6 “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
Some people think air, water, and food are the essentials. The Bible contradicts this!
Proverbs 16:6 reveals the three essentials for success. You may have others, but these are the most necessary tools to possess and use. Grasp these essentials, sharpen them, become familiar with them, keep them in your tool box for your need and use. They will bring success in pleasing God and doing His will!
Proverb 16:6 list the essentials and Proverbs 16:8 shows how to use them! In between the essentials (verse 6) and knowing how to use them (verse 8) is opposition (verse 7). So the lesson here is to acquire the essentials, overcome the opposition, and gain the knowledge by using them to please God!
Proverbs 16:7“When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
Proverbs 16:8 “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.”
Notice how this ties into the first thing God ever says to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28:
Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Mercy from God is essential. When God extends His mercy it means that we don’t get what we deserve. Every time I sin, God would be just and right to toss me into the lake of fire! He extends His mercy to allow me to continue. This ties into Romans 12 and the other study on finding God’s will because of the admonition to do things “by the mercies of God”! See Romans 12:1. We can only serve Him as He extends His hand of mercy towards us.
Having God’s mercy on you is important in being able to serve him effectively. Extending God’s mercy to others is what doing God’s will is all about. Learning how to use God’s mercy toward you, keeps you in fellowship with Him. I am always amazed that when I sin, I don’t get what I deserve. I have learned that it is God’s goodness that keeps me serving Him. Getting God's mercy instead of His judgement is the Blessing of God!
Romans 2:4 “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Knowing this allows me to extend mercy to others. Mercy is one of the essentials for success. Not only receiving God’s mercy but extending mercy on those God has you helping. This is such a foreign thought, that I have never seen mercy listed in any keys to success!
How about truth? Jesus said the following:
John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
So that makes the Bible the truth. Having a perfect Bible as the truth gives the authority and power to make what you do pleasing to God. As you do the will of God by faith, it is comforting to know that it is right. It is how God speaks to you!
By using mercy and truth, many sins are purged and are not committed. The other thing that keeps a person in God’s perfect will is the fear of the Lord! What this does is make a person careful in the steps that he takes. Please see the idea of fear and love as taught in the Bible. A Christian possesses both and both are clean and right. Both are extremely powerful. This is what makes you fruitful, allows you to multiply, and replenish the earth (fix the problems)!
Grasp the importance of these essentials and then put them in action. Do this by using Proverbs 16:8.
Proverbs 16:8 “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.”
Use what you have. You can’t use what you don’t have! It is never right to do wrong to get a chance to do right. The end does not justify the means! Use the resources you have available. Let God take care of the provisions. One of the maintenance myths is to throw more money at it. What is needed is more righteousness and less money!
What this verse is teaching is to do right with what you have. Take the mercy, truth, and fear of God and get busy. More can be done for God with these things than with unlimited revenue! I have found out that God will provide what you need to serve Him. God is not broke! If you will take the little that you have and start serving God, God will provide what you need. What is needed is righteousness! Just do what is right and God will bless it!
Remember to get the essentials: mercy, truth, fear of the LORD and use these little things with righteousness. Gather these into your tool bag and then don't just run off. Plan your life and then live your plan!