Since my brother is catching up to the ages I used to be (he’s 17 now), my Mom recently had me compile a list of books I’ve read that have to do with manhood, love & marriage, and life. I thought I’d post the list here for the help of other guys who share my desire to become the man God wants me to be. These are books that I’ve found to have helpful principles and Biblical wisdom.
These are interesting days for me. I recently turned 20 (a ripe old age), am about to leave the job I’ve had for almost four years, and am preparing to launch out into life. I’ve never done any of those before.
It’s easy to get discouraged when I face the reality and responsibility of life, especially not knowing where exactly God is leading me right now. However, I keep trying to keep the mindset of taking every step by faith, walking through each day trusting God to know what I don’t. It’s hard to keep that mindset sometimes.
The other day, I decided to read Proverbs 3 verses 5 and 6 during my devotions. I was born at 3:56 in the morning, so Dad and Mom have always called me their “Proverbs 3:5, 6 baby.” I guess that makes it a life verse for me in a way!
Normally, I like to read several chapters during my devotions… But on this day, I read only those two verses. I’m getting ready to go through my keyword study Bible next year, and have been reading various portions out of it the past few days. The thing I really like about it is that it’s connected with Strong’s study tools: exhaustive concordance, Hebrew & Chaldee dictionary, etc. Key words in verses are marked so that one can easily find the definition of the original word used in the original language.
So as I was reading, I decided to look up the key words in the two verses — and subsequently spent nearly a half hour studying them. My findings were very interesting, and helpful for me in this season of my life.
The English language is not all that great of a language; emotions and meanings have tended to be smashed into single words… It makes it hard to capture the depth of the original language of the Bible. I found the meaning of Proverbs 3:5, 6 to be so much more special after studying it and meditating on the full measure of its meaning:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5, 6 (KJV)
From these literal meanings, I wrote down my own transliteration of the verses:
“Take refuge and be bold in the Lord with all your heart; and do not support yourself with your own knowledge. In all your ways — from life paths down to small actions — know, respect, tell, be aware and sure of Him in all you do, and He shall make straight your road, which has been travelled before.”
There’s so much depth to those two simple verses for me now! It’s fascinating how the original language not only has the simple instructions (“trust”), but also specifics on how (take refuge and trust with boldness!).
God is so good… I’m so thankful that I can completely trust and rely on Him for all that I need!