In Proverbs 9, Solomon concludes his fatherly advice by painting two pictures: one of wisdom and one of folly. If wisdom and folly were women, what would they be like? And which should someone choose as their companion, and why?
In Proverbs 8:22-36, Wisdom makes an impassioned appeal for us to receive her and live. To encourage us in this decision she describes her presence with God as He created. What can we learn about the wisdom of God from listening to personified wisdom speak?
After three lengthy warnings against sexual sin in three successive chapters (Proverbs 5-7), you might expect Solomon to move away from the subject of relationships. Well, he does, and he doesn't. Instead of continuing to warn against what could go wrong, he encourages what is needed for anything to go right by encouraging his son to form a relationship with wisdom. Let's study Proverbs 8:1-21!
It's often said that experience is life's greatest teacher. But does it have to be your experiences, or can you learn from the experiences of others? Solomon teaches us that the wise walk of faith isn't just about learning from your mistakes but from the mistakes of others too. Let's have a look at Proverbs 7:1-27!
Christians usually know that adultery is wrong. How is it then that people can still be guilty of it? The author of Proverbs 6:20-35 would have us know more than that it's wrong; he would have us know why it's wrong and what we can do to avoid it.
To drive home the gravity of sin, Solomon describes seven sins as being subject to God's hatred (Proverbs 6:16-19). Why are these seven highlighted, and what can we learn from this list?
By teaching his son to learn to observe people's body language (Proverbs 6:12-15), Solomon hoped his son would avoid getting caught up in someone else's lie and its consequences. Is there more that can be gleaned from this lesson?
Solomon seems to have experienced a problem that many parents do: having a child that loves sleep a little too much. He calls his son to consider the ways of the hard-working ant. Proverbs 6:6-11 certainly contains lessons for leisure lovers, but it also contains lessons for anyone seeking to prepare for the future.
Money is an incredibly powerful tool that too often is used for evil instead of good. In Proverbs 6:1-5, a father tries to get his son to see the dangers in a financial arrangement resembling something like modern day cosigning. In his advice, we can see not only the dangers of that arrangement but what money does in the context of relationships.
The father who authored Proverbs 1-9 didn't just want his son to avoid sexual immorality, he wanted his son to have a happy, successful marriage. In the middle of a warning against adultery, what did he teach his son about finding fulfillment in marriage? Let's examine Proverbs 5:15-20 together to find the answer.
Growing up, I was told frequently to not trust strangers. While this advice is problematic for Christians in some areas of their lives (such as evangelism or hospitality), it is vital advice for protecting the intimacy God has reserved exclusively for marriage (Hebrews 13:4). As we study Proverbs 5:14, 21-23, we'll see the author of this text warn his son about the dangers of inviting a stranger into the intimacy that should belong only to his wife.
Paul calls us to "walk circumspectly... as wise," that is, to allow the wisdom God grants us to make us both active and aware. His encouragement is not unique; it was also the aim of the author of Proverbs 4:20-27. What can we learn about a wise, circumspect walk from the inspired advice of a father to a son?
While Satan tries to convince us that life's possibilities are limitless, the Bible frequently boils it down to a choice between two. For the father who by inspiration wrote Proverbs 1-9, there were only two roads in life: the way of wisdom and the way of the wicked. Why should we choose the way of wisdom? Let's examine Proverbs 4:10-19 to find out.
Bringing God's wisdom into your wisdom is not a matter of simply bringing pieces of information into your life. The author of Proverbs 1-9 characterized it for his son as entering into a relationship. Let's reflect on what he says about developing that relationship in Proverbs 4:1-9.
Have you ever wished you were someone else? Was that person talented, successful, popular, or rich? Was that person faithful to God? In Proverbs 3:31-35, the author of the text helps his son to see the difference between those who are God's children and those who are not, with the aim of teaching him that those who aren't God's children ought never to be envied.
In today's world, a good neighbor is one you never see, hear, or even really notice. In the ancient world however, relationships with neighbors meant far more than that and building those relationships could be a matter of life or death. For Christians, loving your neighbor should mean something different than the modern reality and resemble something more like the ancient ideal. What does the author of Proverbs 3 teach his son about being a good neighbor?
The father's description of the sweet sleep of the faithful reminds us of Jesus sleeping during the storm on the Sea of Galilee. How can we rest peacefully even as the storms of life descend upon us?
The first two verses of Proverbs 3:11-20 find their way into the writer of Hebrews' discussion of God's chastening. While he acknowledges, "no chastening seems to be joyful" until "afterward" (Hebrews 12:11), the author of Proverbs 3 wanted his son to see the value of chastening before it happened. What can we learn from this?
Trust describes an important aspect of our relationship with God, but like all commonly used words, sometimes it isn't clearly defined or understood. What is trust, and how can we know if it is true?
Christians often pray for God to "guide, guard, and direct us." How does He do that? In this text, a father tells his son the role wisdom plays in God's providential care.