Proverbs 3:3-4

New International Version (NIV)

 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.

For Meditation

I just came back subdued from a housing agency that owes our church a refund. I went there ready for a passionate confrontation to recover our money with immediate effect. They had treated us unfairly during our three-year tenure, and some other issues compounded my anger and moved me to act impatiently. To my shame, the manager politely explained that we were responsible for the delay.  They had requested for evidence of our non-indebtedness to the electricity and water companies, and we had failed to comply.

Sometimes we chase after something so hard, while the key to its acquisition is in our hands. We push and complain about people and the process, while our failure to fulfill our part of the deal may be the problem.

Solomon hints us about a way to win favor in the sight of God and man that highlights this. Notice the word then in this verse.

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 (Prov. 3:3-4).

If we commit our hearts to love God and our fellow human beings, and maintain faithfulness in all our dealings, the word assures us of winning favor and a good name before God and man. It’s that simple; yet we fast and vehemently pray for these when the solution lies in our bosom.

Joseph loved God and faithfully committed to His honor through slavery, imprisonment, and civil service. Mrs. Potiphar’s sexual overtures unquestionably revealed this character trait (Gen. 39:7). Joseph’s response to this temptation endures as a classic example of how to honor God with our life.

“How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (9).

No wonder he gained favor and a good name before God and man in everything.

Jesus, our ultimate example, loves His Father and faithfully committed to His earthly redemption ministry despite the suffering and cruelty He endured. As a young man, we learn that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Lk. 2:52).

As it was with Joseph, a type of Jesus, and with the Lord Himself, so will it be for us if we also adorn ourselves with love and faithfulness (Prov. 3:3). We “will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.”

The key is in your hands.

Shalom