January 1, 2020

      Timeless treasures waiting to be mined by the hearts of man, are the words written in the book of Proverbs. Written hundreds of years ago, these proverbs are still relevant and very much life-altering if applied. The wisdom in this book transcends all cultures, eras, and denominations.

       The book of Proverbs is a collection of sayings drawn from years of experience, both written by King Solomon, and collected by him from others. We find this truth mentioned in another book written by this Great Preacher. It says in Ecclesiastes 12:9-10, the preacher sought out and set in order many proverbs. It also states the fact, that the ones that he wrote out were upright and true.

      The final words in Ecclesiastes actually give us a grand introduction to the book of Proverbs.

Ecclesiastes 12:8-14
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

      After a life of heartbreak and aimless wandering to find the truth, Solomon says the end of it all is to fear God. This word fear used in this passage does not mean to be afraid of, but rather to reverence or respect God, and follow His leading.

      When all is said and done, the proverbs collected and set in order in this book, are nothing short of the literal breathed words of God, spoken through Solomon for our benefit.

      Solomon had collected many such wise sayings over his lifetime. In fact, what we have in the book of Proverbs is only a portion of all that he had shared in person.

1 Kings 4:32
And he spake three thousand proverbs:
and his songs were a thousand and five. 

      It is believed that what we have in this book, which has in times past been referred to as the Book of Wisdom, are those bits of wisdom that were the best of the collection he had gathered.

      In life there are really only two ways of learning about how the world will treat you, and where sin will lead you. By far, the most common is that of trial and error. By following this path one will experience the cold hard facts of sins penalties, and life’s perils. God’s way is always better. It is to heed His warnings, and harbor His wisdom in all that we do.

      It is nothing short of amazing to realize that the God, who created all of the universe, cares so deeply about our day to day life, that He provided us with easy to remember, and applicable principals for a good life here in this world. He does not consider it unimportant to guide us in the ways of love, our family, our walk in society, nor how we conduct our lives in the marketplace. Everything about us, and about our wellbeing are important to Him.

     Tomorrow we will look into the divisions of this wonderful book.

                     “Getting people into the Word of God…
                                      ….and the Word of God into people.”

 This week we will:

Tues.   December 31, 2019  Explanation Work Week Devotions 
                                                   & Daily Reading Schedule
Wed.    January 1, 2020        Introduction to Proverbs    
Thurs. January 2, 2020        Solomon The main Writer     
Fri.       January 3, 2020        The Divisions of the Proverbs  
Sat.      January 4, 2020         Proverbs 1       
Sun.     January 5, 2020         No Passages Assigned

Traditional Old & New Testament Reading Schedule:

     January 1, 2020,      Genesis 6-8          Matthew 3