Sunday, December 06, 1998 This Week's Lesson:
In this week's lesson, which came from Proverbs 1:1-7, we learned about the importance of developing wisdom and understanding in our personal walk with the Lord. We saw that a daily study of the Book of Proverbs is an important step to learning how to be all we can be for Him. Most people want to live well and be successful. But more important than earthly, temporal success is the success which comes from having a close, individual relationship with our Savior and Lord, Jesus, the Christ. For those that have never received Christ as Savior, accepting His finished work on the cross at Calvary is the most important thing to do. I Timothy 2:5-6 says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." As the Christmas season approaches and people remember Jesus' birth, what a blessing it would be to know the Savior whose birth the world celebrates.
In Proverbs 1:1-7, Solomon, who was the writer of those words, the son of King David, and the current king of Israel, listed reason after reason for studying this book of wise sayings and teachings. I Kings 4:31-32 tells us that he was the wisest man of his times. He spoke three thousand proverbs and wrote one thousand and five songs. No one had a finer reputation for making good, intelligent decisions than he. According to him, a person should study Proverbs to gain wisdom and understanding. Studying Proverbs will open one's eyes to problem areas in their life. It will help an individual better understand God. It will help someone be just and fair towards others. Studying Proverbs will make the simple less simple. It will give the young man knowledge and discretion, and studying Proverbs regularly, even daily, will make anyone wiser. Even an already wise person will be made wiser by regularly studying Proverbs. In this passage, Solomon wrote that all knowledge begins with a reverential fear of the Lord.
Thus, the message of this lesson is very simple. Studying the Book of Proverbs is a sure path to becoming smarter and wiser. In a society where everyone is taught the importance of working hard and of trying to do well, no one can do better than to begin each day by reading the chapter in Proverbs for that day. Bible interpreters probably did not do so intentionally, but the division of the Book of Proverbs into thirty-one books is ideal for a civilization that has at most thirty-one days in a month. Simply match the numerical date to the chapter in Proverbs of that same number and you are on your way. On the fifth of the month, read Proverbs, Chapter Five. On the tenth, read Chapter Ten. On the twentieth, read Chapter Twenty and so forth. Using this basic formula, anyone can embark on a course that will lead to godly wisdom and a better understanding of the things of God and this world.
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
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