Jesus' Satisfaction—Proverbs 10:1-10
Solomon has made his case for choosing wisdom. Now, at last, he says that we are finally ready to hear some real proverbs, some of the punchy two-liners for which the book of Proverbs is famous. Read them. Memorize them. I know you have some proverbs from outside the Bible memorized - maybe "A penny saved is a penny earned" or "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Those are handy sayings, but Solomon's Proverbs are on another level, because they are God's word for our salvation.
But remember, even these Proverbs won't do you much good unless you have the fear of the Lord. That's the pre-req. What's ahead isn't so much a few hundred rules for a few hundred situations as it is one rule applied to hundreds of different situations. The one rule is: Fear the Lord.
The Over-Promiser, the Sluggard, the Troublemaker, and the Savior—Proverbs 6:1-19
Jesus Christ saves sinners from what we've done, from who we are, and from what we might become.
Do you ever look back on your past and wince when you think of something you really shouldn't have done? In my early twenties, I had a hard time finding dress shirts that fit me. But I found a website where you could plug in your measurements and they would send you a custom-tailored shirt. And it wasn't very expensive, if you picked the fabrics they had on sale. It was a great thing, in theory. The main problem was that the on-sale fabrics were all very, very bright fluorescent neon colors. I wore them anyway. I had a neon green and a neon orange. My middle school students loved it. They told me they could see me from a long way away. I was dating my future wife at the time. When I told a fellow teacher that I would soon be meeting Amy's parents, her immediate response was, "Don't wear that shirt."
Sometimes it's easy to reverse the effects of our folly. I eventually got rid of the neon shirts, and I don't think anyone was hurt by my actions. But sometimes it isn't so easy.
And what if the problem isn't what you've done, but who you are?
Marriage, Adultery, and Jesus Christ—Proverbs 5
What are the best things in life? Here are a few on my list. Leaves falling in a crisp autumn wind. A cup of hot black coffee. The crash of a thunderstorm and the pounding of rain. The first flakes of snow at the beginning of winter. The stars twinkling on a clear dark night. Fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
None of these compares with marriage. It’s the best. I think I can make the case for this from the Bible.
Life-Giving Wisdom—Proverbs 4
The word "life" runs all through this chapter. "Keep my commandments, and live." "Guard her" (wisdom, that is), "for she is your life." "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
This word from God teaches us that wisdom is the source of life. Is that what you thought?
Six Rules, One Savior—Proverbs 3:1-12
Finally, we've gotten to some proverbs! After two chapters convincing his son to seek wisdom, the father starts to deliver some of those practical pieces of advice we all love. (He isn't done praising wisdom, though. We'll get more of that in the next section.)
This passage gives us six rules to live by. Here they are: (1) Remember these teachings,
Hidden Treasure—Proverbs 2:1-22
Once my dad and I were ordering lunch at the counter of a cafe, and he dropped what he thought was a nickel. It rolled under the counter, and we bent down to look for it, but we quickly gave up. We weren’t about to lie flat on the ground in the middle of a coffee shop to search for a nickel.
Only on the way to the airport did we realize that what he had dropped was his wedding ring. If we had known
Two Invitations—Proverbs 1:8-33
Proverbs is a book for young men. Young man, it says, listen to your mother and your father.
The King’s Wisdom—Proverbs 1:1-7
The King of Wisdom became a fool for us and is calling out “Listen to Me.”