A String on Your Finger – Proverbs 7

“Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” – Proverbs 7:2-3

If you’re a fan of the Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, you might remember the scene where George Bailey’s beleaguered Uncle Billy is shown with several strings tied around his fingers. The idea is that each string is there to remind him of something important.

This image has also appeared in many other places in popular culture including children’s cartoons. We don’t see it so much now that we’ve moved into the age of sticky notes and phone reminders.

Have you ever tied a string on your finger to help you remember something? Every time I’ve ever seen it, the string wearer has already forgotten what the string was for. Every. Time.

But that’s not real life. Maybe it actually works somewhere.

In any case, we can see here why the concept persists. It comes from the Bible. Want to remember something? Tie it around your fingers.

We use our hands for everything. If your hands are encumbered in any way, say by having a note tied to them, you just can’t miss it.

This is how the wise words of the Bible should be to us. In our faces. Unignorable. Can’t miss it. Can’t do anything without being reminded of them.

Wise advice should be remembered and cherished in preparation to being followed. The commandments of God should be written on the tablets of our heart, tied to our fingers, and protected as carefully as we protect our eyesight.

“Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” – Proverbs 7:2-3

Please be sure to read the chapter of Proverbs from which this devotional is taken. The point of these posts is to inspire or remind you to dig into Proverbs for yourself. May God bless you and give you strength and wisdom to live your best life for him!