We pay special attention to the Book of Proverbs here at Helping Up Mission. It focuses on Wisdom more than any other book of the Bible. One of our weekly Character Qualities (see http://helpingupmission.org/page.aspx?pid=472), Wisdom is defined as “seeing life from God’s point of view.” If this is an accurate definition, and if wisdom is as accessible as Proverbs says, it is a concept to which we really need to pay attention.
The Book of Proverbs does not really talk about going to Heaven. Instead, it presupposes a personal relationship with God, already, and focuses on how to make the most of that relationship in this life. How God looks at people, places and things is what Proverbs is about and we have the opportunity to tap into that understanding.
So we encourage guys to read the chapter of Proverbs which matches the date. Today is March 19, so a guy would read Proverbs chapter 19. With 30-31 days per month and 31 chapers in the book, we can basically read through Proverbs each month. Over the course of our one-year Spiritual Recovery Program, that is a lot of wisdom!
In class today, Joe asked about Proverbs 19:7:
The poor are shunned by all their relatives—how much more do their friends avoid them!
Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.
Family and friends unavailable to those in need – of course, the verse does not suggest this is right, just that it is how peope tend to act. So, armed with this understanding, we should relate it to our own interactions with others.
If wisdom is anything like our definition and if it is really as accessible as Proverbs says, we should all get busy working at this on a daily basis.
One Day at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director