LEARNING DAILY

 

Proverbs 3:3,4, 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.

 

For quite a few years I have worn a cross which is on a chain around my neck. Most of the time no one sees it; it is not something for others to see. There are times I have it on the outside of a t-shirt for others to see. It is not a decoration to me. It is a reminder to stay steadfast in my walk with Jesus Christ as I walk the narrow way. It is a reminder of what He has done for me by taking my place on a cross for the sinful life I have led. It is a reminder to take the sins I commit to the foot of the cross to be washed in His cleansing blood. Another Bible version uses the phrase “steadfast love meaning loyalty to a covenant. I think of the ring I wear that reminds me of the covenant I have made to love and remain true to my wife.

 

With that covenant, I have promised to be faithful or true which means I am going to be dependable. One who is dishonest or deceptive in a marriage is false. That same covenant relationship may be seen in the relationship Believers have with God. Once a person is saved through Jesus Christ, the Believer ’s life should reflect his/her love for Him and his/her obedience and dependability to live as God demands in His Word.

 

Solomon suggests another way to help us be faithful because of our love for God is to write His Word on our heart. How do we do that? By reading/studying/memorizing His Word, the Bible.  That is the only way we get to know God, His characteristics, the way He wants us to live and walk on the narrow way. It helps us to trust Him with all our heart for decisions that must be made because we know he knows what is best for us. As humans we only “see in part” and if “we lean on our own understanding” we are going to fail. By writing God’s love and faithfulness on the tablet of our heart we are able to discern between good and evil, when something or someone is not right even though it is not clear. God is directing us as we walk on His narrow way.

 

When we do this with God’s Word, we will have favor and success with God and with man. May we understand that following God’s will results in better results than disobeying Him. To “have a good name” means to have a good reputation as a wise, capable, and effective person in God’s eyes as well as man’s. Faithfulness is saying and doing truth; it is an endorsement of we are. It is extremely important as we gain respect from our spouse, within the community and where we work. Being selfish and unfaithful will eventually be found out and destroy relationships.

 

As Christians we have a never-ending amount of love and faithfulness in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, the Father looks at each and sees His love and faithfulness which causes us to gain favor and success in His eyes. Proverbs 16:6 tells us, “Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil”. Write that on the “tablet of your heart”!