Proverbs 1:9
"Indeed they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck"
graceful wreath
The word graceful is the Hebrew word hen which means grace or favor. The word wreath is the Hebrew word liwya which only occurs twice in the Old Testament. In that day when a person wanted to show that you were a favored person because you had done something significant or you were deeply loved or valued, they would present you with a wreath made out of various materials. We are used to this idea from the Olympic wreath bestowed in the Olympic Games. The presence of this wreath meant that you were important or significant in some way.
What is interesting here is that Solomon is offering to be a father to us and to put a wreath of favor, significance, and blessing on our head by teaching us about how to make our way in the world.
It is tragic that there are many children who did not grow up in homes where their parents really blessed them with wisdom, knowledge, safety, security, and love. But here God is offering to become your parent; to make up for what your parents may or may not have given you and to place on your head a wreath of significance for all to see. THIS IS A FAVORED CHILD OF MINE. In the New Testament, God offers the ultimate wreath of favor: salvation through Jesus Christ. While I would urge each and every one of you to accept the wreath of salvation in Jesus Christ by accepting His death for your sins and becoming His follower, I would also beg you to accept the wreath of significance and success that God offers through this book of Proverbs. Allow God to favor you with the way to live life on a different plane.
I know that many of you who will be reading this did not have happy and loving childhoods. It is all right. While the scars will remain, God is now offering to teach you the lessons of life that you didn't learn from your parents. It does not matter how old you are as you read this -- 15 or 95 -- the principles of wisdom that God wants to teach you will place on your head a sign for all to see that this person has been favored by God or all these good things would not be happening to them. Will you sit at God's feet and learn how to live wisely rather than making decisions that seem right to you?
In all of our lives, there are areas where we need the wisdom of God as our parent. Even the best parenting job done by the best parent can use the supplement of God's wisdom. I believe that I had some of the best parents a person could have; they did an awesome job. And yet, obviously, when I submit to the fatherhood of God in my life, He hangs a “wreath of favored one” on my life for all to see and that gives Him glory.
necklace
In Judges 8:26 and Ezekiel 16:11, we see the practice of honoring a person of significance with necklaces. God tells us through Solomon that He will hang obvious honor on your life if you will submit to the lessons in this book. There will be rebukes and encouragement; love and discipline in this book. You must be willing to be corrected; you will have times when you need to be encouraged and just wait. There will be times when you will have to abandon what seems to you like the right way. If you are willing to submit to the insights and life lessons in this book, then a huge necklace of honor will appear on your life. In our day, we might say a huge ring or an expensive suit of clothes or a very nice car. The necklace was the way and the place to display high levels of honor and status.
I don't know about you, but I want to be a trophy of honor and blessing in God's trophy case. I want Him to be able to point to me as one of His children who follows His ways and avoids many of the common pitfalls that are a part of the process called life.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz