“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:” (Pr 3:3 AV)
That little word ‘forsake’ has me intrigued. Coupled with the word ‘let’, this verse gets even more interesting. The picture here is allowing mercy and truth to purposely depart. The answer is to cling to them. Solomon uses the picture of a scarf or shawl bound around one’s neck. The idea here is mercy and truth, seeing no profit in its presence, slips away. This suggests a very important and applicable truth here. Mercy and truth are not inactive. They are active. They are not benign. Mercy and truth seek a purpose. If the purpose for which they seek is unprofitable, they depart. Applying mercy and truth is the way to keep them active. Rejecting mercy and truth results in them departing. Being neglected or underappreciated also may cause mercy and truth to depart. Remember, mercy and truth are attributes of our benevolent God. Mercy and truth are the extension of His interest in whom He has created. He desires to teach truth that we might be blessed by it. He extends His mercy when we fail to live by that truth. Allowing the attributes of mercy and truth to sit unused means God forsakes us in the exercise of this mercy and truth.
Several years back, my blood work came back as dangerously deficient in vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is essential for fighting sickness, among other things. So, the doctor wrote me a script for 50,000 units per week. He explained to me that vitamin D3 works a bit different from other vitamins. This vitamin builds up in the fatty tissue of the body. Once there is a surplus, then it shows up in other parts of the body, including the blood. Therefore, as he explained it, it could take three to six months of a faithful administration of this vitamin for it to show up as an increase in my blood work. He also mentioned that as I lost weight, vitamin D3 would be released into my bloodstream. It would spike until I leveled out to my manageable weight. However, if I neglected to build up reserves of vitamin D3 because of failure to take my medication, then the benefits of this supplement would be lost. There had to be a discipline of taking the supplements and then maintaining them or I would not receive the benefits of what this vitamin could provide.
God gives mercy and truth freely and plentifully. He gives as much as we desire and need. There is no holding back. The only factor to the supply of mercy and truth is how we use them. Do we apply the truth God has given? Do we strive to live according to the truth He has supplied? Do we examine our hearts in the light of the truth He has already given? When we fail, do we seek the mercy of God? When He grants that mercy, do we walk in humble gratitude, recommitting to living in His truth? Do we seek the mercy of God presumptuously? Do we seek His mercy, knowing full well we will not forsake that condition of our hearts that demands that mercy? Truth and mercy are like those mittens that are sewn together with a string. If we do not tend to them, the string will wear away and we will lose one or both. If we do not pay attention, something might snag on and pull the whole unit out of our coat. If we feel mocked because we have to have mittens sewn together and put them aside, we will lose them forever. Mercy and truth require profitable application. If we use them not, they will forsake us in the direst of circumstances.
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