As mentioned last Sunday, we’ve just begun a new series on the Book of Proverbs called “Wisdom for Living”. Here is the series:
- Jun 19 Trust (Proverbs 3:5-6)
- June 26 Words (Proverbs 10:11-21)
- Jul 3 Friends (Proverbs 27:6-17)
- Jul 10 Money (Proverbs 30:7-9)
It’d be good if you could read ahead. The Book of Proverbs is a great read – it teaches us Biblical wisdom, which shows us how to live well in God’s world. As you read Proverbs (consider using the Proverbs Bible reading plan here), remember the following:
The appeal of Proverbs lies in its practical concerns and its apparently direct applicability to our lives… Two inseparable but distinct characteristics of wisdom are to be seen: it is both the gift of God and a responsible task for us.
From Graeme Goldsworthy’s Gospel and Wisdom (p.409)
That is: Proverbs is God’s revelation of how to live well in His world, but that revelation is only half the picture of wisdom. Wisdom is not just knowledge, but putting that knowledge into action. Therefore, we must not just read Proverbs, but be disciplined in our efforts to apply it.
But as we read Proverbs, it is sometimes easy to think, these ‘truths’ don’t always happen in real life. For instance, I’ve seen parents do Proverbs 22:6 – training up a child in the way he or she should go, but when they are old, they haven’t kept to the godly path, but instead they have departed from (rejected) the faith. What does this mean for our reading of Proverbs? How do we harmonise the teaching of Proverbs with our experiences? I’ve found the following helpful from ’Grasping God’s Word’ by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays (p281-282).
Perhaps the most critical thing to remember when interpreting and applying the book of Proverbs is that the individual proverbs reflect general nuggets of wisdom and not universal truths. To interpret the proverbs as absolute promises from God is to misunderstand the intent of the author. Proverbs gives guidance for life, addressing situations that are normally true.
For example, consider Proverbs 10:4 - Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
This proverb is generally true. If you work hard, you will most likely prosper… [But] in our current world of e-commerce and stock trading, millionaires can be made overnight, and while hard work often plays a role, it is not always the major ingredient.
OK, with that in mind, I’ll leave it there for now. So happy reading, and may God bless you with His wisdom for living well in His world!
Comments are closed.