Tablet of Love

"With all my heart." How often in our lives have we heard this saying? It's often words spoken from parents or grandparents to precious children in their lives. Or between lovers speaking of their undying faithfulness. Yet anytime we hear these words spoken, it often brings to mind a picture of love, commitment and loyalty from one person to another.

Proverbs 7 gives us a similiar picture. Although in most of the chapter the author has chosen to give his son a warning about the adulterous wife, that warning is preceded by a picture of love. Let's break it down.............

v1 - "My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands that are in you." This verse reveals the heart that loves enough to take time to teach. He is letting his son know, "You are my son and I love you enough to set aside time to teach you truth.......to discuss the hard things of life with you one-on-one." He also spoke identity to his son. When he said, "My son," he let both the son and the world know that this was the son of his love and he was proud to be called 'father'. This kind of love often causes confidence in a child.......the kind of confidence that creates a longing in children to make the father proud.

V2 - "Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye." Here is hope. It is the hope of one that realizes the outcome of wise decisions. Just as obeying the laws of the land brings us hope of having the law's protection if needed, so it would bring hope of a better life if the father's instructions were used as the standard for life.

v3 - This is my favorite! "Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tables of your heart." Our fingers represent everything we touch or do in our lives. But the heart. The heart represents life itself. It represents love, commitment, and loyalty. The picture is not that the words are copied on paper but etched in stone. And to have that stone placed inside the heart means there is love representing both sides. The love the father had to teach his son. The love the son had to hold on to those instructions and let it rule every area of his life.

This is the love our heavenly Father showed us. And that love was not only etched in stone, but was written on His heart large enough to be seen by all the world. It was etched in blood on the cross. That cross told the world that Jesus was the Son of His love.

Today, His tablet still holds true. It is His love letter to us on the pages of the Bible. Let's bind those words and have hope of a life filled with His blessings.