TLIC Family. PROVERBS. FEBRUARY 3: WRITE THEM.

Proverbs 3:3. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

The importance of never losing sight of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is stressed here in Proverbs 3:3. Don’t let them get away. Bind them around your neck. Write them on your heart.

This imagery is not lost on us. We often wear jewelry around our necks, even religious images like a cross. Why do people wear the cross around their neck and close to their hearts? Obviously because either the cross itself is special to them, or the necklace itself is special to them. Either way it is meant to be a reminder of something. God’s love and faithfulness, his covenant with us, must never be forgotten, so do whatever you need to do to remember whose you are.

In the Old Testament your heart was the most important part of you. It’s what controlled a person. It’s that deep part of the soul that decides what you love, what you desire, and what you care about. Solomon (and God) are asking us to trust God’s love for us so much that it becomes the very center of our life, not an afterthought, but the controlling influence of our existence.

But notice that in Proverbs WE are the ones making sure that God’s love and faithfulness are being applied to our hearts. We do the binding. We do the writing. But the good news of union with Christ is far better. In Christ, the Spirit does the binding. He does the writing.

Proverbs 5:5. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

To live is Christ means no longer having to bring God’s love into our own hearts from the outside in. By the indwelling Spirit of Christ, God’s love is moving through our hearts from the inside out, allowing us to love God and love others with all our heart. 

You: Would you say that your mindset is one of earning God’s love, or receiving God’s love.

You in Christ: God’s love is GIVEN to us. Unearned. Undeserved.How does this gospel truth actually help us to trust God more?

Christ in you: Where can you see God’s love, the love of Christ, coming out of you towards others recently?

Pray: Father, your Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Christ is in me forever. Help me to let your love out today by faith. Amen.