The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. — Proverbs 22:4

In this life, we will strive for outcomes. Solomon calls them "rewards" here. In other words, we will see something we want, and we will do anything we can to have this thing. For some men, this is a compulsion. And Solomon knows this because he knows a man's compulsions. And he knows there are three things all men strive for — wealth, fame, and pleasure. And while we assume Solomon might dismiss these three things or even pursuit of them. He doesn't. He leaves the carrot hanging there for us. And then, he suggests a different method for pursuing the same three things. And the pursuit comes with two prerequisites.

First, we have to learn to lay down pride. In other words, we must give up all forms of preoccupation with self. And this is challenging because we have so many little manifestations of pride in our life.

Second, we have to learn to fear the Lord. In other words, we must learn to leave human fear behind. And again, this is hard to do in a world that incessantly bombards us with fear because we have so many forms of fear.

But if we are willing to do some work here and focus our time and energy on these two prerequisites, we will eventually realize that this pursuit is exhausting. It's actually impossible. We will never be able to fully lay down our pride or fear. But this doesn't mean the quest isn't worth it. Because in the pursuit, we will discover a loving God who knows this and see's us working ourselves to the point of exhaustion. And when we come to the point of exhaustion, God extends grace. And his grace is rich, honorable, and life-giving. It's the richest resource man has ever known. And God gives it generously because we could not work for it, strive for it, or earn it. And usually, at this point, a man may encounter the big three — wealth, fame, and pleasure — but they don't matter to us anymore because we have something better — a God who is rich in grace.

Today pursue life with passion. But remember, we pursue a God who is rich in grace. Crazy rich. So worry less about worldly rewards and more about his reward. It is a pursuit of genuine "riches and honor and life."

"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" — James 4:6

ASK THIS: What reward are you chasing? God and his grace or other things?

DO THIS: Pursue God's grace and get it all.

PRAY THIS: Father, I need grace. May I know your rich grace!

PLAY THIS: This Is Amazing Grace.

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