Prov. iii. 1-17
MANY people pride themselves on being able to repeat from memory passage after passage of Scripture. They seem to be thoroughly familiar with God’s Word. But when it comes to making practical applications of the words they have learned, they entirely fail. It is a beautiful thing to be very familiar with the Bible, but simply to have its words in our head so that we can glibly repeat them is not enough. We need to get God’s Word into our heart, which is the fountain of our life. This is what He asks of us: “Let thine heart keep My commandment.”
One result of having God’s Word in our heart is that we will not wish to let mercy and truth forsake us. Mercy is love toward the unworthy and undeserving. We are saved through God’s mercy toward us, and God expects us to excercise toward others the same mercy. An unmerciful Christian is a contradiction of terms. Truth means not only avoiding falsehood; it also means sincerity, honesty, justice, and fairness in all our dealings. The practical living out of mercy and truth insures for us the favour of God and man.
Everybody likes to appear well, but with many people this desire finds its satisfaction in the mere matter of dress and ornamentation of the body. The most beautiful ornaments are noble traits of character, and among these traits none are nobler than mercifulness and truthfulness.
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