"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:3-6)
Proverbs provides wisdom for living. It opens up God's direction for living honorably and effectively, focusing us on strengthening our families and blessing others and God. While the Proverbs themselves may appear simplistic in their construction, their implications and applications are profound and life-altering.
These four verses from Chapter 3 sit within a series of recommendations that the wise father offers to his maturing son. In these verses, we find great instruction for wrestling with how to approach life.
The first two verses point to an outward, others-focused orientation. The son ought to allow "love and faithfulness" to remain, to become his hallmark. While there are rewards -- winning "favor and good name in the sight of God and man" -- these characteristics are explicitly genuine. Others will immediately detect counterfeit love and faithfulness, and the reputation won't come forth. By nature, love and faithfulness can't emerge from a divided, self-serving heart.
The second set of verses instruct us on the awesome benefits of trusting God. By placing our concerns about what and how into God's hand, we then release Him to arrange matters according to His plans and purposes. By retaining the control in our feeble hands, we actually block God from bringing resolution. Through trusting God today, we receive blessing for today and additional God-sightings for tomorrow. The cycle of trusting and growing in trust continues as we grow in maturity.
How could you trust God with something additional today? What areas of your life could you lift into His hands? Would you be willing to surrender more to His powerful hand?
Lord God, thank You for the testimony of Proverbs. Give us strength to live according to Your wisdom vs. our feebleness. We love and honor You today. In Jesus's Name, amen.
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