Daily Proverb - Proverbs, Chapter 1

¹The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel; ²for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; ³for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; ⁴for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young - ⁵let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance - ⁶for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

I hope by simply reading the first seven verses that you will be inspired to read all of chapter one!  We will focus on these first seven verses for now.  Solomon is known as the most wise king ever.  He asked God for wisdom to make good decisions as king, and God gave to him generously.  So in reading this chapter, understand that this is wisdom from God to the most wise of kings, and from the wise king to your Bible, for your good pleasure!

Proverbs 1:2-6 establishes the purpose of Proverbs.  Go ahead and take a moment to think about each attribute of Proverbs.  The question is simple - do you want to be wise, disciplined and prudent?  Do you want to do what is right, fair, just and add to your learning?  Do you want guidance and to be able to understand the wise?  I have to believe that your answer is yes to all the above.  So read verse 7 and understand that having respect and admiration for your creator, the Lord, is the beginning!  On the other hand, if you want to be a fool, I suppose you will be until it hurts enough that you finally consider to learn to do things God's way!

I just want to add, that as we go through Proverbs each day, it is important that you understand that a Proverb is a truism.  What this simply means is that it is generally true to life.  These are not promises, but they are generally true.  A good example would be Proverbs 1:32-33 "For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.".  We know that even wise men who are servants of the Lord, do end up in harms way.  In their service, they choose to go places that may not be safe for Christians, and as a result, often suffer harm.  But generally speaking, a person who lives in a way that is pleasing to God, lives in peace and harmony and avoids going places where they may fall prey to the rewards of their sin, pain and destruction.  If you are going to live like a fool, you have every reason to fear!  I want to encourage you to seek the Lord and His ways, fear the Lord and you will enjoy great peace in your life!  Be wise with Godly wisdom, which is found in the book of Proverbs!