Proverbs 3:2 (Mini Sermon)

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2. Pro 3:2 - "For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee." A. For length of days, and long life...shall they add to thee i. Many people today spend much money, time, and energy in a mostly futile effort to lengthen their lives. a. Special diets, exercise, and expensive supplements are pursued with religious fervor in hopes of getting to spend a few more years on this sin-cursed earth. b. Worldly men look to advances in science, modern medicine, and even transhumanism as their savior that they hope will stave off death for decades, centuries, or possibly forever. c. On the other side of the aisle, some religious folks today look to "natural" methods to prolong their lives, endlessly chasing one guru after another who claims to have just what God ordered to make us live at least twenty years longer than His book says that we will (Psa 90:10). ii. The key to long life is not found at the Mayo Clinic, the local drug store, the natural food store, or even in one's own garden, but rather in remembering God's law and keeping His commandments (Pro 3:1). a. If a man would put down the prescription drugs, 3D organ printers, organic food, vitamins, homeopathic potions, and essential oils, and instead pick up his Bible and read it everyday, remember what he reads, and put it into practice in his life, he would stand a much better chance of making it to the ripe old age of eighty. b. Could some of the above-mentioned things extend one's life? Possibly. c. Will taking God's prescription for longevity be more effective? Absolutely (Pro 3:7-8; Pro 4:10; Pro 9:10-11; Pro 10:27). iii. There are at lease three reasons why remembering and doing the word of God results in the lengthening of life. a. Firstly, the Almighty, who declares that "them that honour me will I honour" (1Sa 2:30), will bless the God-fearing man with a protracted life because life is a blessing. b. Secondly, God will extend the life of His pious saints in order for them to show "[his] strength unto this generation, and [his] power to every one that is to come" (Psa 71:18). c. Thirdly, a long and healthy life is a tangential effect of keeping God's commandments, for the man that does so avoids sins which have life-shortening results such as fornication and sodomy (STDs), drunkenness (liver disease, drunk driving), gluttony (diabetes, heart disease, etc), brawling, etc. B. ...and peace, shall they add to thee. i. Not only will reading, retaining, and practicing the precepts of the word of God increase the length of a Christian's life, but it will also increase the quality of it. a. Along with length of days and long life, peace shall also be added to the doer of the word. b. Remembering God's law is equivalent to keeping one's mind fixed on Him, and the man who does so will be kept in perfect peace (Isa 26:3). ii. The Biblical definition of righteousness is keeping God's commandments. a. It was said of Zechariah and Elisabeth, John the Baptist's parents, that they were "both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luk 1:6). b. "Righteousness and peace" are so closely bound together that they are said to "have kissed each other" (Psa 85:10). c. Thus, keeping God's commandments, which is righteousness, brings the peaceful life that God has promised, for "the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever" (Isa 32:17). d. As the scripture says, "mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace" (Psa 37:37).