Proverbs / chapter 31 (read the chapter)
Beauty, beauty, beauty. We live in a culture obsessed with beauty, and it is getting more obsessed all the time. Author Regina Franklin wrote about that in her book Who Calls Me Beautiful? In 1951, Miss Sweden weighed 151 pounds and was 5′7″. By 1983, Miss Sweden measured in two inches taller at 5′9″, but 45 pounds lighter at 106. Clearly, the standards of “beauty” change from generation to generation! Continue Reading »
Proverbs / chapter 30 (read the chapter)
These days—especially with the current class warfare climate in America—there are few television news programs I can watch without hearing something about the rich and the poor, about extreme wealth and extreme poverty. Of course, folks on both sides of the debate tend to throw those words around without much definition, although we make a habit of talking about them in very clear-cut, black-and-white terms. Continue Reading »
Proverbs / chapter 29 (read the chapter)
I don’t think I’ve yet seen in the Bible a better description of the fate that awaits the wicked than this: “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.” (vs 1) This is what Romans 6:23 calls the “wages of sin.” It is destruction that comes as a result of a stubborn insistence to continue in sin, not as a result of something God does to you! Continue Reading »
Proverbs / chapter 28 (read the chapter)
At the beginning of this chapter was an interesting proverb dealing with fear: “The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” (vs 1) Those who don’t know God (or choose to go their own way despite knowing Him) live in a perpetual state of fear and anxiety. Those who do know God stand their ground no matter what. Continue Reading »
Proverbs / chapter 27 (read the chapter)
A few months ago during a Bible study, a friend of mine said something that has been nagging at me ever since: We don’t often know what love is. He said that in the context of discussing how to be loving toward people, and he suggested that there might be many times when we wouldn’t immediately recognize what would be the “loving” course of action in a given situation. Continue Reading »
Proverbs /chapter 26
. . . or does He? That’s what you might have thought if you read the chapter for today. How could you miss this? “Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.” (vs 4) And on its heels: “Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.” (vs 5) Continue Reading »
Proverbs / chapter 25 (read the chapter)
This chapter begins in a very intriguing way: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.” (vs 2) To conceal a matter . . . hmmmm, perhaps like the meaning of this proverb? Whatever could this mean? It has been my habit to praise God for His commitment to self-revelation. Why would Solomon say that God not only conceals things, but that it is His glory to do so? Continue Reading »
Proverbs / chapter 24 (read the chapter)
I love it when Bible verses make me laugh out loud. This one caught my fancy today: “Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble. For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them.” (vs 17-18) I just had to laugh right out loud. A call to not gloat over your enemies—not because it’s the right thing to do, but so you can keep your enemies in their troubles longer! Continue Reading »
Proverbs / chapter 23 (read the chapter)
There were so many references to the heart in this chapter:
Proverbs / chapter 22 (read the chapter)
It seems that, time and time again, I run up against things in the Bible regarding the “rich” and the “poor” that just aren’t as clear-cut as our modern thinking tends to be. Take this verse from today’s chapter, for instance: “Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.” (vs 2) Continue Reading »
