Monday, January 4, 2021
My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:1-6
I first heard the last two verses of this text
from my mother when I was quite young.
The words still roll off my lips like a gentle waterfall (in King
James-ease, of course)! But the words
that precede – a father’s instruction to his son about some of the most
profitable and praiseworthy life-skills, practicing kindness and loyalty –
these are the keys to trusting in the Lord with all your heart, and honoring
God with all you do. To be kind and
loyal is to be faithfully opening your life to having God show you the best
paths.
I saw, and participated in, that this past
week. It was not a cataclysmic event
covered by all the news channels. It
wasn’t life and death in the biological sense.
It was a simple interchange between two men at a gas station. I had stopped to fill the gas tank and get a
cup of that high octane coffee. As I
approached the double doors that lead to java heaven a man, perhaps thirty
years or so younger than I, reached the entryway first and pulled open the
door. As he did, he stepped backward,
and with the most perfect theatrical bow and sweep of his arm, he smiled (with
his eyes, because the bottom half of his face was covered with a mask) and
offered, after you, my friend.
I couldn’t help grinning under my mask.
I bowed a thank you and stepped-inside.
I then grabbed the inner door, opened it, stepped aside, and bowed as
low as this old back can manage, and offered (in my best James Earl Jones
voice) after you, my friend.
We both chuckled, and I said, we can’t be too kind these days, can
we? He responded, not at
all, ever!
Two men, more than just civil, and without even
skipping a beat, lifting each other’s day with a kind, momentary gesture of
which a hundred other people in the parking lot probably never took note; but, I,
somehow felt lighter all the way home.
And, a day later, I still savor the kindness, and loyalty to brotherly
neighborliness.
It occurred to me that kindness and loyalty are
twins; they share the same DNA, and you cannot un-join them. A commitment to loyalty is understanding of a
lifetime of kindness expressed, whether reciprocated or not. Loyalty passionately holds forth
kindness. And genuine kindness cannot be
disloyal.
When King Solomon, God’s preacher of wisdom, coached
his prince-son in God’s way to a life filled with God-honored blessings, he put
kindness and loyalty in the front seat of the wagon. This is what drives us onto God’s best
pathway.
For You Today
You, as I, have been the recipient of kindness and loyalty in your
life. I can say that with assurance,
because there are too many people in our world who practice this for you to not
have bumped into some of them. Perhaps
it was at a gas station, or somewhere in your life you just needed to
experience a genuine whiff of Godly air.
When you got that whiff, it was God saying, Tag…you’re it! Now, go spread it around!
[1] Title Image: Courtesy Pixabay.com
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on this text see God's Life Skills - Not for the
Half-Hearted
and Sometimes It's Better for the Ship to
Sink
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