My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.     Proverbs 3:1-4 NKJV

I often quote Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” However, we know that we should consider the context of any passage of Scripture that we read. As we read verses 1-4, we see that trust and obedience go hand in hand.

We are instructed to hold on to mercy and truth and to go so far as to bind them around our neck and write them on the tablet of our heart. This reminds me of Deuteronomy 6:6-9 which says, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

We are more likely to break rules if we don’t remember what they are. Here Moses is stressing the importance of knowing what the commandments are and obeying them. The rest of Deuteronomy 6 is a warning for the bad things that will happen if they fail to obey God’s commands. It ends in verses 24-25 by saying, “And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.”

Our pastor always says when the Bible says, “Thou shall not,” it’s God’s way of telling us not to hurt ourselves. We have traffic laws to keep us safe on the road. Our parents have rules to keep us safe at home.

If we violate traffic laws, we could wind up having to pay a fine and possibly having to go to court. If we violate our parent’s rules things may not go so well at home.

I won’t argue that there are some laws or rules that don’t make sense, but overall rules are made to keep us safe and happy.

When we obey God’s rules, we will have peace and long life. We will have eternal life with our Lord and Savior in heaven, and it doesn’t get any better than that.

Now maybe you haven’t devoted a lot of time to reading each and every traffic law in the surrounding municipalities and in your state. Perhaps you haven’t cracked open the Criminal Code and read through every law in your state. Maybe you haven’t studied all the federal laws. But if you keep God’s laws, it’s easier to keep all the others. If we focus on Him, He will help to keep us on the straight and narrow.

We are to be obedient. We are to humble ourselves before Him and others. And we are to be merciful and truthful. In Micah 6:8 it says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

My friend surrender to Him, know what He commands of us. Seek justice and do your best to do what is right. Love mercy and exercise mercy and kindness when dealing with others. And walk humbly with your God.

It’s as simple as the song says, just “Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Have a great day!