Proverbs 3:1-7

"My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil."
Proverbs 3:1-7


This whole proverb is amazing. :)  but I thought you guys would all revolt if I put a 35-verse scripture in here, so I decided not to. :)  Anyway, to start off... it is talking to daughters as well as sons, so no sneaky-trying-to-squirm-out-of-applying-it-to-yourself if you are a woman.  God starts out with his remember theme... which is a pretty good one, since we seem to forget, all too often.  Amazing, really... when you think of who makes the biggest difference in our lives... and who do we forget most often.  We could have a nice discussion on why that happens, but this is not a chat room, and I am talking to myself... scary. :)
I think it is interesting that the Lord says to let our hearts keep his commandments... why the heart? and two verses later... write mercy and truth upon your heart... seems like the heart, the whole emotion, feeling-stuff thing is pretty important.  and usually that is how we discern the spirit as well.  what that says to me is that we need to be open with our emotions, and allow ourselves to feel what the Lord is saying.  He is going to communicate with us in many ways, and the more ways we can listen, the better. :)  I like verse 2 and peace... not to dis long life of course, but peace seems nicer. :)  and I agree... when I know I am okay with God, that's when I can find some peace.  no matter how happy I am in other ways, if I don't have that inner core of peace, my life falls apart... every time.
Verse three... now, this is symbolic of other things, but bear with me... what it makes me think of is when you are a little kid and your mom and dad give you a house key, and they make you wear it around your neck, so you won't lose it. :)  keep mercy and truth around your neck, so you don't lose them. :)  We *are* little kids that have a tendency to lose things like that, after all. :)
Favor and good understanding... cool.  And you know... having God understand me isn't that hard, he is used to the weird twistings of my mind... but the "and man" part astounds me ... that other people will understand me?  now, *that* is amazing. :)  And favor is always pretty nice. :)
5 and 6 are quoted a lot, but they are still meaningful... trust God, and don't depend on yourself without him.  it works.  I could tell you stories... as recently as last night... where God made it happen.  not me, never me... I can't do that stuff, I can't be that cool.  when I try, I fall on my face... but with God, I am super-woman.  I can do anything, be anything, accomplish anything.  Fly, probably too... :) God will show us the way to go... all we have to do is recognize that he is the one with directions. :)
Don't think that you are smart enough to handle it all alone... respect the value that God adds to your life, and forsake the devaluation that evil brings.  *With* God, we are worth more than anything could be... and never have to worry about not being cool enough or smart enough or beautiful enough.  Maybe we aren't on our own sometimes... but with God, we have it all, and to spare. :)