What’s
Around Your Neck?
By Elin Henderson
“Let not mercy and
truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck…”
Proverbs 3:3a (NKJV)
One
of the first things we noticed in our village was that from the youngest infant
to the most elderly, everyone wears one or more fetishes around their necks. They
were quick to tell us that these fetishes (called “ehirisi” in the local
language) are small cloth pouches within which are found leaves or written
words that are meant to protect and heal them. You can tell by the color of the
cloth which sickness they are hoping to be protected from.
Something
dangling around the neck is not easily missed; our eyes are naturally drawn to
it. Neither is it something easily forgotten
by the one wearing it. Maybe that is why here in Proverbs 3, Solomon tells us
that our neck should be well-adorned with two great objects: mercy and truth.
We
wear “mercy” to help us remember where we came from. It reminds us of what the
Lord has done for us, as well as of His unfailing mercy that keeps us afloat
each day. It also dangles there as a reminder to us to show mercy to those with
whom we come into contact each day.
We
wear “truth” as a reminder of the need to walk in the truth and light that He
pours out from Heaven above onto us. With truth comes transparency and
vulnerability, all of which God desires to use in our own lives and those
around us. As he reveals things to us, we must be willing to allow truth to
shine into our dark worlds and purify us.
So,
what’s around our necks? Are we proudly showing the “Mercy and Truth” that He
wants us to bind around our necks? Or do we have it tucked under our shirts and
not as obvious as it should be? Do
people we come into contact with leave the encounter saying, “Wow, did you see
that Mercy and Truth she was displaying?” Let us ask God to renew in us an
awareness of these two adornments that He has asked us to wear.
GOING DEEPER:
1. In Proverbs
3:3b, Solomon further admonishes us to write these truths on the “tablets of
our hearts.” What does this mean in real life? How can writing these on the
“tablets of our hearts” impact our lives and those we come into contact with?
2. Where else in Scripture are “mercy and
truth” found closely linked together? Here’s a link to help: http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=mercy%20and%20truth&version1=50&searchtype=phrase&spanbegin=1&spanend=73
FURTHER READING:
Oakwood’s
missionaries Elin Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as
church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique,
Africa.
Elin is mother to eleven-year-old Callie and nine-year-old Elias.
