September 3

Sep 3 - Today from Proverbs 3 we look at verse 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"

I would like to contemplate this passage on the basis of the use of axioms and theorems? Axioms are pieces of truth. Theorems are propositions that need to be proved, or have been proved through application of the axioms.
We will test our subject matter by seeing love and faithfulness as the axioms. We will use winning favor and a good name with God and man as the theorem.
Some time ago I posed the question to our readers as to what you believe to be the significance of binding something around the neck. I had several thoughtful responses. One reader responded that good jewelry, when properly displayed, enhances one's beauty rather than detracts from it. That certainly fits our proverb of today. The practice of being consistent (faithful) to seek the best for others (love), indeed enhances the beauty of one's soul and character. In this sense, our Lord Jesus was exemplary in binding love and faithfulness around His neck. He knew what love and faithfulness were in accordance with God's original purposes (truths), and He applied them in all of life's situations (wisdom). As a result, His beauty of character is unsurpassed. Jesus indeed won favor and a good name with God and man. Your name is more than the word by which people use to address you. Your name is the sum of your authority and your character. The essence of your name is the sum of the characteristics that come to people's minds whenever they hear or read your name. For instance, what do you sense or feel when you hear the name Mother Teresa? How about the name Sadam Hussein? I think you see the point. One has bound love and faithfulness around her neck, the other has bound hatred and selfish ambition around his. Their names are more than just the proper nouns used to address them. . . their names are the record of their lives. Thus the theorem is proved out as we apply the axioms of love and faithfulness. Jesus was the ultimate example, and we can build our lives on the proven proposition that if we will be consistent in seeking the best for others, we will enhance the beauty of our own character and will win favor and a good name from God and from men. Thank God He gave us a new name when we were born-again. Now we are responsible to earn a good name. That's right. Even though God gives the grace, binding love and faithfulness around our neck is our responsibility.
The Teacher in the book of Proverbs purposed to teach his students wisdom. He assumed that they already were familiar with pieces of truth, now he wanted his students to learn how to apply those truths to life. You will see this pattern used over and over throughout the book. The theorems in the book of Proverbs need to be proved out in our lives as well. We can trust in them because they are based in truth, and the Lord Jesus has gone before us and proved them already. The evidence is not always in the here and now - that's what causes men to stumble. The evidence is found in the life of Jesus, and one day all spiritual theorems will be proved out in the fullness of time. Until then, He has given us the gift of faith, and the assurance of the Blessed Hope. We would be fools to compromise our good name and favor with God for the temporary, self-gratifying things of this age . . . Right?