Bible in 90 Days 20: PROVERBS

Today is Day 49 in our journey through the Bible in 90 days.

If you ever feel like you have A.D.D., Proverbs probably really resonated with you. At times, it seems to be all over the place: from money to parenting, from temptation to wisdom, from marriage to investing sometimes right within the same paragraph.

Although finding a main theme for each chapter or section isn’t always easy, the theme of the book as a whole is wisdom. It would make sense that it was about wisdom, since its author (except for chapters 30 and 31) is King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. According to 1 Kings 3, God made Solomon the wisest man who ever lived.

Not only was Solomon supernaturally gifted with wisdom, but he was also experientially gifted with wisdom. After all, he was King David’s son, he built the Temple, and as king, he experienced many things that contributed to the wisdom he shared in Proverbs.

Much of Proverbs is specifically targeted toward young people (Proverbs 1:8). Parents, you know how it is – your kids think they have it all figured out. Solomon sets a great example of laying it out straight – hitting the hard topics and not backing down.

That’s one thing I love about Proverbs – it’s not scared to say it how it is. Below are a few of my favorite (honest, in-your-face) Proverbs…

Better to dwell in the wilderness, 
Than with a contentious and angry woman. – Proverbs 21:19

He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, 
It will be counted a curse to him. – Proverbs 27:14

As a dog returns to his own vomit, 
So a fool repeats his folly. – Proverbs 26:11

A little sleep, a little slumber, 
A little folding of the hands to rest;

So shall your poverty come like a prowler, 
And your need like an armed man. – Proverbs 24:33-34

I could go on. The bottom line is, Solomon says it how it is…which is how the whole Bible is written (as you’ve probably noticed by now), and it’s how we should be as well. The world needs more honesty. Dads (like Solomon) need to tell their kids how it is, in order to train them up in the way they should go. After all, as Ecclesiastes points out, it’s wise to teach others from your wisdom.

So who are you teaching?

What are you learning?

Both of those should be something that you do for the rest of your life. Always be sharing from your experiences, but don’t talk so much that you can’t listen – you need to learn from others as well. After all, even the wisest man who ever lived made some pretty terrible mistakes and didn’t follow his own advice…so do as he said, not as he did.