“The generous will prosper, and those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Proverbs is different from every other book in the Bible, here’s why:
In all the other books, there is a story, a parable or an emotion being shared. Sometimes these accounts are covered in a paragraph, and sometimes it takes the whole book to do the job. But in the case of Proverbs, almost every sentence is it’s own lesson. Think of the potential of that! If the wise, humble person who is constantly seeking to learn and grow were to have such a book, what would they do? Would they read it all in one sitting and put it up on the shelf, like you might with a murder mystery? I doubt it. I think the wise would read and re-read it, using each sentence to inform their everyday walk.
Herein lies the problem for you and I. We just read three chapters of Proverbs in one sitting. Within those three chapters are potentially dozens of life lessons, there’s no way to comment on them all, or even acknowledge each one, let alone learn something from each in a single day. Trying to read and absorb everything a chapter of Proverbs says is like taking a mega dose of Vitamin C. Some people don’t realize this, but you can’t overdose on Vitamin C. Your body will simply flush out of the extra that it isn’t using at the time. The mega dose doesn’t really help you at all. Read as much of Proverbs as you like, but I think it would be best if you hone in on one or two key concepts and commit them to memory. I don’t mean memorize them, just remember that “this is what I learn in Proverbs”, so that when you have a question, you can return to refresh your memory. Or maybe you just memorize it, that works too.
All of life can be laid out like a decision tree. Each decision shapes the future, which we believe is unwritten until we make the decisions. (we are wrong in that assumption, but …whatever). This is the stuff of science fiction novels: the time traveler doesn’t like what happened, so he goes back in time and changes one event, only to return to his own time and find out that there were unintended consequences. Only then does he realize that every journey back the time line creates ripples of change in the future, unpredictable, and sometimes terrible changes.
But you see, that’s science fiction, and the Bible is reality. In reality, God lives beyond the end of time. All time is present for God, He is without beginning or end…and time has both a beginning and an end. God then, sees the beginning and end of time (and everything in between) as if it is all happening at once…or as if it has all happened in the past….if the concept of “past” can even be used when speaking of eternity…
This is why Proverbs is so important. Rather than a decision tree, life is like a maze. The maze is fixed, and my decisions don’t affect it. However, I choose to move through the maze does affect me. Proverbs is simply telling me how to move through the maze of life. Every one of the cautions and words of advice are pointing us toward a healthy outcome.
Pick the one “action” word in each sentence and what do you find? A pattern of living that leads you in the right direction.
Discretion, godliness, humility, generosity, honesty, kindness, graciousness, integrity, encouragement, work ethic, etc…. these things will lead you through life in a pleasing way. Those who trust in the Lord will commit these principles to memory, and use them every time they need to make a decision. You will never wander into sin by being humble, honest and generous.
Proverbs is telling us there are really two paths you can walk, or two basic directions you can go. One follows the human heart that is unredeemed and will lead you into trouble. And then after leading you into trouble in this life, it will deposit you in Hell.
The other path follows the teachings of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, and it will bring you safely from this life into the next life. For the wise person, it really isn’t a hard decision at all. But, not everyone is wise, are they?
Faithfully,
PR