Gwen Shaw的部落格

January 18

BE ADORNED WITH THE ORNAMENTS OF MERCY AND GRACE

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3: 3-4

"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."

Mercy and truth are very precious attributes which the Lord wants His children to possess. He is a merciful Father and He is Truth. And if we are His children we should be in His likeness and image.

Jesus could say that He was the truth because He lived according to the Proverbs. There never was a flaw in His conduct or His life.

He said that He was the Light of the World (John 8:12, 9:5). He also said that we are the Light of the World (Matthew 5:14).

That means that He wants us to be like Him. He wouldn't say that we are the Light of the World if it weren't possible.

Jesus was merciful. He was filled with kindness for all.

The Lord says in this Proverb, "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them upon the table of thine heart."

When you are busy, tired, worn-out and worried it is easy to let mercy get away from you. It is so easy to be unkind and inconsiderate when you do not feel well, but you must be careful never to let the opportunity to do a good deed escape you.

Truth and honesty are the other very important virtues. Actually they are related. You cannot separate truth and honesty.

Sometimes it is easy to stretch truth just a little bit -- it fits with the "big impression" you want to make. But that doesn't make it right.

But actually, the cost of dishonesty is greater than the cost of honesty. The cost of honesty is temporal. The cost of dishonesty is eternal. Think about this!

Bind mercy and truth around your neck. Brand them on the table of your heart so that you have a merciful and honest heart.

If you do this you will find that favour, kindness, grace and loveliness will become a part of your character. You shall wear these graces in this life and in the one to one. And you shall have good understanding in the sight of God and man. Like the boy Jesus who grew in favour with God and man, you too shall grow in favour with God and man (Luke 2:52).