My son,
forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length
of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let
not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the
table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding
in the sight of God and man.
Proverbs
3:3-4
Long
life, peace and favor with God and man.
Who doesn’t want that? Not that
our life will be perfect. As long as we
live on this earth we will face trials and difficulties, storms and heartache. But peace in the storm is what we long for. Favor
with God is what we desperately need. So
how do we attain this peace and favor?
The
chapter starts out by saying - Don’t forget my law - God’s law, His
commandments that He has written in His word.
We are to keep it in our heart.
Well, if we are going to do that, we have to read it first. And then meditate on it and memorize it.
Notice
first of all that it says to let our hearts keep his commandments. How many times do we do things that we know
we’re supposed to do but our heart is not in it? Do we go to church but our heart is grumbling
about the meal we need to fix or how we’re tired because the baby kept us up
all night? I could give many more examples but we can all fill in the blank
with what we stumble over.
Then
verse three tells us to not let mercy
and truth forsake us. The dictionary defines mercy as compassionate
or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; In other words, withholding punishment even
when the offender deserves it. How many
of us deserve God’s wrath but He offered us mercy instead? The Bible tells us that God delights in mercy. Shouldn’t we?
And we know what truth is - honesty, accuracy.
So
how do we make sure that mercy and truth do not forsake us? First of all we bind them about our
neck. If you have something around your
neck, every notices it. If you’re wearing a beautiful necklace or scarf,
everyone sees it. Mercy and truth are to
be such a part of our lives that everyone notices them. Secondly, we are to write them on the table of
our heart. Yes, the very heart that wants to grumble and complain. God wants mercy and truth engraved deeply in
our lives. He wants it to be who we are
because it is who He is.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by
the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger
for ever, because he delighteth in
mercy.
John 14:6 - Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.
By Karen W from Ellie Marie Designs
9:08 AM |
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