September 16 / Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30

This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I have done no wrong.”

Proverbs 30:20

If that doesn’t sound like our current culture, I don’t know what does. Our culture calls evil good, and good evil. It does not confess sin; rather, it proclaims its sin with pride, saying, “I have done no wrong.”

But that is the pathway to death. Let’s stay off that road. Let’s instead acknowledge our sin in true confession and repentance. That is the pathway to His forgiveness and the abundant life that He longs to give us.

See also:

September 15 / Proverbs 28-29

Proverbs 28-29

The wicked flee when no one pursues,
but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1

Without explicitly saying so, this proverb speaks of courage. In watching the Being Human video series from The Ridley Institute, I was reminded of this quote from C. S. Lewis:

Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.

C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

That is good food for thought. It is not enough to simply theorize about virtue or righteousness or justice. One must put virtue into practice, not only when it is easy, but most especially in the face of true risk or adversity, when courage is required.

So what will it be for you today? Will you flee when no one pursues? Or will you be bold as a lion?

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September 14 / Proverbs 26:13-27:27

Proverbs 26:13-27:27

Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.

Proverbs 27:1

Of course, generally speaking, boasting isn’t particularly good form, over-stating our own self-importance. But boasting over something that hasn’t happened yet is that much more over the top. James puts it this way:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:13-16

As for other boasting, we might consider these verses, too:

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14

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September 13 / Proverbs 25:1-26:12

Proverbs 25:1-26:12

A word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Proverbs 25:11

Indeed.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4:6

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September 12 / Proverbs 24

Proverbs 24

Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house.

Proverbs 24:27

In other words, “First things first” or “Get your priorities straight.” Do those things that are truly needful before attending to less important tasks. For example, field work is a higher priority than house building. If you fail to plant your crops because you are spending your time hanging curtains, you won’t have anything to harvest later, and you will go hungry, despite your nice décor.

That advice applies to our spiritual lives as well. Our most fundamental need is to know God, for He is our life. Are we giving Him the time and attention He warrants? I, for one, have some field work to do…

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September 11 / Proverbs 22:17-23:35

Proverbs 22:17-23:35

Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 21:17-18

With all the advertising that gets thrown at us, with all the unreality we soak in from Hollywood, with all the material prosperity of the obviously-not-so-righteous around us, it can be hard not to envy sinners. The sinner’s life seems easy. They cheat and get away with it, bribing their way out of trouble. They speak arrogantly and abuse others, all the while enjoying material success. At least, that can be our perception, as in the first half of Psalm 73.

But that limited perception is not the whole story. We would do well to maintain a broader perspective and remember the LORD, as in the second half of Psalm 73. In Christ, we do indeed have a bright future and hope, far better than anything that might tempt us toward envy in this world.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18

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September 10 / Proverbs 20:14-22:16

Proverbs 20:14-22:16

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous
but terror to evildoers.

Proverbs 21:15

We can see the truth of this proverb illustrated throughout history at various levels, from the punishment of notorious criminals to the defeat of the Axis powers by the Allies in World War II. But any such illustration is partial at best. Only in the Final Judgment will this proverb be fully realized, and on that Day, I’d like to be counted among the righteous, wouldn’t you? Yet none of us is righteous on our own. On our own we can have only the expectation of real terror. Our only hope is to be found in Christ, to be clothed in His righteousness. There, in Christ, we will find joy on that Day as God sets all things right and wipes away every tear. (Rev. 21:4)

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September 9 / Proverbs 19:1-20:13

Proverbs 19:1-20:13

The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
the LORD has made them both.

Proverbs 20:12

That statement is as true in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical. That is, we have no capacity to hear the voice of the LORD or see His Truth apart from His giving us ears to hear and eyes to see. Do you hear? Do you see? Then rejoice and be glad and give thanks — and do not squander His gifts.

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September 8 / Proverbs 17-18

Proverbs 17-18

Now that we are well into this Book of Proverbs, I think it’s worthwhile to make some general remarks. You might have noticed that many of the proverbs we’ve read tend to paint a picture of life in which wisdom, honesty, righteousness, and hard work produce wealth and prosperity, while folly, dishonesty, wickedness, and sloth lead to poverty, ruin, and death. As we have already seen, there is plenty of truth and wisdom in that picture. But with a little observation of life and a broader reading of the Bible, we can also readily see that that picture is incomplete, as it seems not to account for wealthy wicked people (e.g., a drug cartel kingpin) and honest, hard-working people living in poverty.

Should we, then, just toss aside Proverbs as overly simplistic, perhaps even naïve? Hardly. Instead, we should see that this book as a whole paints a much more complete picture, especially when seen within the broader scope of Scripture. We should also understand that these proverbs stand against our natural tendency to think that lying, cheating, and stealing can pay off handsomely, or that get-rich-quick schemes are smart, a tendency that is, frankly, reinforced by plain observation. (Hey, a few people do, in fact, win the lottery, after all…) No, this book does not present a nice neat “formula for success” but recognizes that the world is not so simplistic at all.

Take, for instance, our first verse today:

Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting with strife.

Proverbs 17:1

I think we can all readily understand what this proverb is saying. What we might not notice, though, is the implication (and acknowledgement) that an upstanding citizen living in quietness and peace might just be poor, and that a negative atmosphere of strife might just be found among the wealthy, all of which upends the supposed simplistic “formula for success”. So as we continue to read through Proverbs, let’s be sure not to oversimplify or otherwise isolate any particular verse. Let’s see the big picture and remember the full breadth of Scripture, of which this book is just a part. Let’s also remember that these are proverbs, not promises.

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September 7 / Proverbs 15:24-16:33

Proverbs 15:24-16:33

By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

Proverbs 16:6

Steadfast love and faithfulness: two exceptional qualities, both of which are evidenced by actions, not just feelings, and both of which the LORD displays in abundance:

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

Psalm 36:5

It is because of His steadfast love and faithfulness that our iniquities are atoned for in Christ’s Cross. He calls us to be like Him, to do as He does:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

I Peter 4:8

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