Proverbs 3.1-2
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.”
In chapter 3 Solomon gives a series of simple instructions, and for each directive he tells us the benefits of obedience. The first directive is to know and remember the Lord’s teaching. He tells us to hold the Lord’s truth close to our hearts. In other words, keep the Lord’s commandments at the center of your life. As you go about life every day, remember God’s truth.
The benefit you receive is a long, fruitful, and fulfilling life. The word for peace is the Hebrew shalom, which means “fulness” or “fulfillment.”
Proverbs 3.3-4
“Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.”
Next he tells us to hold fast to “love and faithfulness,” which means to be a person of grace and truth. The word for love is the Hebrew hesed, which is equivalent to the Greek agape. It means uncommon commitment to serving others. The word for “faithfulness” is the Hebrew emet, which means truth … and more specifically, faithfulness to the truth.
We are given two wonderful metaphors for how to make love and truth a constant part of the way we live:
First, bind them around your neck. Wear love and truth like a necklace or scarf. The picture he paints is a person getting dressed in preparation for the day. In the same way every day that you choose the clothes that you will wear, so should you choose the virtues that you will “wear.” Make love and truth a part of your daily attire.
Second, write them on the tablet of your heart. This is the daily act of intentionally inscribing the virtues of love and truth on your heart. The English word “character” comes from a Greek word which means “to stamp or engrave.” You are the author of your character. You are the person who decides if love and truth are engraved and inscribed on your heart.
The benefit you receive is “favor and good success in the sight of God and man.” When you live a life of love and truth, God will bless you and people will trust you. As a result, you will have success in what you do.
This is not a promise that love and truth will always lead to success in everything. It is a classic Proverbs description of the “physics” of life. Most of the time in most situations, a life of truth and love will be much more successful than a life of deceitfulness and indifference.
In the authentic Christian life, truth and love work together. As Paul says in Ephesians, “Speak the truth in love.” The authentic Christian withholds neither truth nor love. If we speak the truth without love, we are not being truthful. If we love without speaking the truth, we are not being loving. Truth is harsh & damaging if not tempered by love. Love is weak & damaging if not directed by truth.
Truth is the “what” of our lives; love is the “why and how.” The combination of real truth & real love should be our guide at work and at home. Not the fake stuff the world promotes, but the real stuff the Lord gives. Again, truth is harsh & damaging if not tempered by love; love is weak & damaging if not directed by truth.
