Pat Deckert, Member 32 years, Good Will Sunday school class

Proverbs 12:22 (The Jerusalem Bible)
“Lips that lie are abhorrent to Yahweh; dear to him those who speak the truth.”  

Proverbs 12:25 (The Jerusalem Bible)
“Worry makes a man’s heart heavy, a kindly word makes it glad.”   

Proverbs 12:15 (New King James Version)
“In the eyes of a fool, the way he goes is right, the wise man listens to advice.” 

Reflection:
Solomon, the wise King and the author/compiler of the Book of Proverbs, saw people as wise or foolish and compiled a practical guidebook of rules for daily righteous living, i.e., heeding God’s commands and doing them; the foolish do not. Jesus, having studied those messages of the prophets and other wise men of the times, in addition to being the Son of God, is the living example to all who would see the wisdom in the way he lived. 

Jesus taught many lessons in the three years of his ministry. It appeared that sometimes he was a bit frustrated with his closest followers when they failed to get his message. After the resurrection, we see him once again trying to explain his purpose as they encounter him on the road to Emmaus and he calls them foolish men for being so slow to believe the full message of the prophets so “then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages that were about himself.” That evening he opened their minds to understand the scripture and told them, “that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem;” further he told them, “You are witnesses.”

As I strive daily to live a righteous life and share the Gospel with the world by word and action, failing more times than I want to admit, Proverbs has much wisdom that I think would make my life better if I were more deliberate about it. Distilling the three verses above from Solomon’s 1000, what if I didn’t answer, “Fine!” or “Great” when asked, “How are you?” That is not always true. Perhaps if I shared a concern, I would hear a kind word that would change my day or even a suggestion for solving what I had made myself vulnerable enough to share. What if I actually did take that advice? Would I find that it was just the solution I needed? In this year of wisdom, I think I will visit Solomon a little more often.  

Prayer:
Our Father, we are grateful for this book of wisdom to guide us in our daily walk. Help us to better understand the ways we can use this knowledge for our own personal growth and in helping to lead people to Christ. Thank you for your saving grace when we choose the unwise way. Amen.