Proverbs 1 - 3
We could easily spend an entire year or even a decade on the book of Proverbs. There is so much wisdom, common sense and spiritual advice in this little book of 31 chapters that it would be advisable to make it a practice to read this book every month – roughly one chapter per day, to make it an integral part of our lives.
It’s easy to see from the first verse of the first chapter that these proverbs were those of “Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.” Solomon tells us right off the bat why he is writing these proverbs:
- To teach people wisdom and discipline
- To help people understand the insights of the wise
- To teach people to live disciplined and successful lives
- To help people do what is right, just and fair
- To give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young
- The wise who listen to these proverbs will become wider
- Those with understanding will receive guidance
What is the foundation of true knowledge? It is fear of the Lord. By contrast, fools despise wisdom and discipline.
The first bit of advice Solomon gives is to listen to your parents. In other words, honor your father and your mother – the fifth commandment – the first commandment with promise – that you will live a long, full house. Solomon says doing this “will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck.”
The second bit of advice is to watch who your friends are, who you hang around with. Don’t succumb to peer pressure, regardless of what they use to entice you.
Is wisdom available to us? According to Solomon, she shouts in the streets, cries out in the public square. She calls to the crowds along the main street. We just have to listen to her counsel; she’ll share her heart with us and make us wise. Solomon also gives us insight into why people don’t have wisdom: “For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord.” This goes right along with what he said earlier: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
We know wisdom was important to Solomon. It was what he asked for when God offered to give him anything. According to chapter two, we should cry out for insight and ask for understanding – “then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord and you will gain knowledge of God.” So, it seems that this is a bit cyclical. If we seek wisdom, we will understand what it means to fear the Lord and if we fear the Lord, we will begin to be wise.
Look what the Lord grants: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, a treasure of common sense to the honest, a shield to those who walk with integrity. In my opinion, common sense is lacking in most of our political leadership. They don’t seem to fear the Lord – perhaps that is why.
A wise person knows the value of loyalty and kindness. The wise person is not impressed with his own wisdom. We are advised to: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
What else is important? We are not to be impressed with our own wisdom and we are to honor the Lord with our wealth and with tht best part of everything we produce. We are not to lose sight of common sense and discernment. We are to help our neighbor when we can, not pick a fight without reason. Remember: “The wise inherit honor, but fools are put to shame.”
Tomorrow, it’s Proverbs 4 - 6.
Interesting Read
In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh,had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.
From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship." "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.
During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
The Obituary follows:
Born 1776, Died 2012
It doesn't hurt to read this several times.
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul , Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the last Presidential election:
Number of States won by: Obama: 19 McCain: 29
Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 McCain: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million McCain: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 McCain: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory McCain won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country. Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."
Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's - and they vote - then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.
If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.
If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom..
This is truly scary!
Of course we are not a democracy, we are a Constitutional Republic .
Someone should point this out to Obama.
Of course we know he and too many others pay little attention to The Constitution.
There couldn't be more at stake than on Nov 6, 2012.
If you are as concerned as I am please pass this along.
Until next time…
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