Proverbs

Photo by Tim Graveson

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

for gaining wisdom and instruction;
   for understanding words of insight;
for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
   doing what is right and just and fair;
for giving prudence to those who are simple,
   knowledge and discretion to the young—
let the wise listen and add to their learning,
   and let the discerning get guidance—
for understanding proverbs and parables,
   the sayings and riddles of the wise.

 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction. – Proverbs 1: 1-7

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 1-2; 1 Corinthians 16

I love Proverbs.

It is definitely one of my favorite books in the Bible. Years ago when I was doing a lot of reading on human interaction I read through some of the classic texts on the subject. I read The Prince, The Art of War, The Book of Five Rings, 48 Laws of Power, the sayings of Confucius and many many more.

I found them all wildly intriguing. It was like I was putting myself through a Ph.D in what I though was how the world works. But then when I came back to the Bible again I became reacquainted with Proverbs.

Those other books don’t begin to approach the truth that lies within Proverbs.

I remember at this time getting into one of those deserted island conversations. The question was if you could bring only one book with you to a deserted island, which would you choose? I said that I would bring only the book of Proverbs. Sure I could bring an entire Bible, that might make more sense; but this is how important I think this book is. I believe that one could read a chapter a day (there are 31 chapters) and learn something new every single day for the rest of their life.

So if you have any questions about how you should live your life I’m willing to bet that you can find it in the 31 chapters of Proverbs. If you cannot find what you are looking for then I humbly submit that you may not be ready to find it.

Truth is too heavy for us to pick up sometimes, even if it is sitting right in front of us.