Just a heads up, I will be out for the next three days on a men's camping trip, so no posts.
There is so much in each chapter of Proverbs that I have 3 pages of notes just from this section. I will try to condense it and just share a few thoughts with you.
8:34 - Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at me doorway. - What a cool picture. I can just see a young kid just sitting outside a doorway waiting for his best friend to come out and play. It doesn't matter if it takes hours he just sits and waits. Can you image how different our lives and our faith would be if we would sit outside wisdom's door and wait for her?
9:8b - rebuke the wise and they will love you. This is true. Wise people, while they don't enjoy rebuke, love you for loving them enough to do it. A great way to see if you are wise is to see how you react when someone corrects you. A lot of times we will say, "Well, I do okay when the right person rebukes me, but not when so and so does it." This says that the wise love those who rebuke them and it kind of implies it doesn't matter where the rebuke comes from. Some of the best, most needed and beneficial rebukes in my life have come from people I didn't really respect or care for. But, in the end they were right about something that needed to change in my life. Be wise and consider each rebuke, looking at the source, but paying more attention to the potential truth in it.
If you compare the passage starting in 9:14 with the one from 8:2 you will see that folly tries to mimic wisdom.
10:5 - He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. You can apply this in many ways. I would say that right now is the time to harvest something for God. It may be people who are lost or those separated from Christ's Church or a certain group of people in your community that needs help or even just a ripe time at home to do something. You prove you are a good son of the Father when you take full advantage of the ripe things and begin to harvest them. I wonder how many of us are sleeping through the harvest? How many of us are so distracted by the world or tired from chasing money or wore out from living it up that we sleep when our strength should be used to bring in the things that God values?
10:14a - The wise store up knowledge...I love that imagery. The wise go around putting all the wisdom they can find anywhere they have room. They memorize Scripture here, stash a little extra understanding there. I get the picture of a pack rat of knowledge. I hope to be the kind of follower of Jesus to store up as much information and knowledge (knowing Him) in my head and heart as possible. I want it to fall out (in a good way) because I am on such a passionate pursuit. I want to be like the guys in the movies who look all crazy, but have a book or an idea for everything and I want it all to be about Jesus.
10:16 - The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death. I thought this was neat for how close to Romans 6:23 it is.
10:19 - Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues. Isn't it true that the more you talk in a conflict the more messy things get. Especially with anger or difficulty or correction, fewer words are better. Multiplying words (talking a lot) doesn't lead to clarity. We need to learn to say what we know ought to be said and then be quiet and let the Holy spirit work. I think some of us talk a lot because we are worried that we have to do too much. Speak and let God do the rest. Speak as those who expect it is just a small part of what god is doing. You will take a ton of pressure off of you and them and allow more room for God to speak into their lives.
10:22 - The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it. I believe this verse wholeheartedly and yet I struggle with it some. There have been times in my life I was certain I was right where God wanted me but there was a lot of painful toil. BUT, I will trust god when I don't understand. I do believe that when we are being blessed by god when never have to worry about some bad thing following it. We can fully enjoy His blessing.
10:24 - What the wicked dread will overtake them; what the righteous desire will be granted.
10:28 - The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.
Love you, Michael
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