DCLM Daily Manna Friday 1 March 2024

TOPIC: Ornament Of Grace

TEXT: PROVERBS 1:1-9 
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

² To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

³ To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

⁴ To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

⁵ A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

⁶ To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸ My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

⁹ For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

KEY VERSE 
“For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck”
(PROVERBS 1:9).

DCLM Daily Manna Friday 1 March 2024 Message

A Bible scholar asserts that “No bodily ornament will ever be more respectable and honourable to the Christian than true Bible wisdom, instruction, understanding, equity, and discretion, together with a deep desire to learn the principles that make an ornament of grace”.

Apostle Paul’s exposition throws more light on the ornament of grace mentioned in our passage today. Solomon first identifies the elements of godly wisdom as instruction and understanding (vs 2), justice, judgment and equity (vs 3), discretion (vs 4) and experience (vs 5). In verse 7, he stresses that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. In verse 9, he concludes that obedience to godly parents and submission to godly counsel will make a son to become wise and attract the attention of many to his conduct and character.

READ DCLM Daily Manna Thursday 29 February 2024 – Irreversible Fate

This godly wisdom, which is described as ornament of grace, is a function of the presence of God’s enablement in the life of the individual. Apostle Paul said, “by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). The Bible says, the law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). GRACE is God’s Righteousness Acquired/Activated at Christ’s Expense.

The message is still relevant to youths today who ignore parental and godly counsels to pursue the fading fads and fleeting fashions of modern society. The study equally invites all of us to pay greater attention to our Christian character, which is the manifestation of grace, than outward dressing. Grace ennobles and beautifies us, making our character to be attractive and sends forth a fragrance of goodness, godliness and graciousness. Do people see the ornament of grace in your life?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Nothing is as beautiful as a gracious life.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 CORINTHIANS 5-7