Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1 – Devotional

Throughout the month of June I’ld like to share some truths to think about by going through the Book of Proverbs. We’ll look at one chapter a day and focus on a verse or two to fix our minds and hearts upon.

Today we’ll be in Chapter 1. First a couple of things about Proverbs in general.

One of the values of the education recieved from Proverbs is that it helps you sift out
things worth thinking about. It helps you distinguish between the essential and the
trivial. This, in turn, brings security, not the security that comes from doing what others
do, but the security based solidly on the truth of the Lord, your personal ideals gained
from the ancient wisdom of God.

Much in our world clamors for our attention, effort, and time. Proverbs provides you with
wisdom that will help you navigate thru the difficult and often frustrating twists and turns
of life and give you a set of standards to judge the true value of things in the world. Eims

Dr. Harry Ironside wrote: There are two ways of learning the emptiness of the world and the true character of sin. The most common way is to tread the thorny path oneself and thereby taste fully the bitterness of departure from God. The more desirous way is to accept His Word regarding the character of sin. This enables the obedient disciple to say:

Ps 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of Your lips, I have kept away
from the paths of the destroyer.

Once a business executive was asked the key to his tremendous success. He
responded, “Two words, good decisions.” The interviewer then asked, “How do I learn to
make good decisions?” He answered, “One word, experience.” “But how do I gain
experience?” The executive said, “Two words, bad decisions.”

Folks, there are 2 ways to learn in life. From your own experiences, or from the
experiences of other people. The fool has to always make his own mistakes. The wise
man learns from others. Why learn the hard way? Be wise, not otherwise!

The wisdom of Proverbs has been give to us that we might not stumble or fall into a pit
along the road of life.

The word "Proverbs", MASAL in the Hebrew, means "to be like, to be compared with."
And what the writer will do is draw from life's experiences, and write down short, concise
thoughts, that we can learn from and apply to our lives.

The primary purpose for this book is to make us wise. And wisdom does not necessarily
come with age, but it comes as we apply the truths of God's Word to our lives.

Prov 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

The mature Chistian is the one who is able to look at and see the areas in his or her life
that need to fall into that proper relationship with God - and Scripture wants to teach us
about how we relate our daily lives to God in all the experiences we face.

The mature chistian wants to integrate into all areas of his life this Biblical perspective -
that's growing in true wisdom.

A wise man stays teachable and seeks out ( and heeds) wise counsel.

The wise man here is not a wise guy "know-it-all" who has all the answers and is never
wrong. Just the opposite here. The wise man listens to people; he knows he has not
arrived.

Understand this paradox folks: the more we learn, the more we realize there is yet
more to learn. The more you know, the more you will realize how much you don't know!

One more verse to think about today:

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

If the purpose of this book is to make us wise, then the goal of this book is to bring us
into a deeper relationship with the Lord, to fear the Lord, to hate evil. You see, all
Biblical wisdom must begin with a right relationship with God.

Do you have that relationship with the Lord today? Confess your sin today and receive by faith Christ’s forgiveness of your sin, made possible for you by His death on the cross in your place. If you already know Him, yield to His wisdom about life here before heaven.

Tomorrow – Proverbs 2

In His Arm’s, Pat