Sunday, February 24, 2019

Finding Favor With God And Man

Most everybody wants to be somebody’s “favorite.” It seems only natural. We want to believe that someone, somewhere, thinks that there is something about us that makes us special or unique or significant. A “distinctiveness” that makes us stand out from and above the “crowd.”
Bringing together a few simple words, Solomon gives us a formula that will make us a favorite of both God and “man.” It does not include wealth, education, status, or our ancestors. But it does include two critical principles: love and faithfulness. He wrote: “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."
Faithfulness cannot be separated from love. For if we love someone, we naturally - even automatically, though sometimes with difficulty - demonstrate that love by being faithful to them.
This love is not a sentimental, emotional or feeling type of love. It is a love that demands, even forces us, to live in agreement with the character of the one we profess to love. If we say we love God, we are obligated to be steadfast and true to the teachings, laws, and direction that come from God’s Word. When there are choices and decisions to be made and problems to be resolved, our lives are to be consistent with the Word of God. If not, we are not “in love” with Him.
So, it is important that we “bind them to our hearts.” Faithfulness and love are to be planted so deeply in our hearts that we practice them without even thinking about them.
Prayer: What a challenge it is, Lord, to be so deeply in love with You, that whatever we do proves our love for You and pleases You! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture For Today: Proverbs 3:3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 

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