Year 2, Day 301: Proverbs 10

Random Nature

From this point on, the book of Proverbs becomes far more frustrating for me to read.  It’s not that the book is bad.  It’s not that the book is hard to read.  For me, the reason that this book becomes more frustrating to read is because the proverbs become so randomly organized.  It’s all good material; it’s just hard to bounce from topic to topic.  From the perspective of this blog, it’s going to make the next few days feel quite random.  I apologize for that upfront.

You Can’t Take It With You

I’ll begin by talking about the simple truth of verse 2.  “Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit.”  It goes back to the old adage, “You can’t take it with you.”  Sure, it might seem in the short run that evil, wickedness, scheming, and devious behavior turns a profit.  In many cases, it does!  But in the long run?  Is it worth betraying friends, family, or even your own conscience?  Does betrayal of one’s ethics, morality, and relationship with God pay in the ultimate long run?

Or what about the second half of that verse?  “Righteousness delivers from death.”  Just like the first half of the verse, at first blush this also seems untrue.  Do you know anyone who has been able to escape death?  I don’t.  Everyone I know has died – even those who are made righteous by the blood of Christ.  However, in the long run does not righteousness save a person from the grip of death?  Sure, we might all die, but through the righteousness of Christ do not those in Him ultimately escape the clutches of death?  {For more information, see Proverbs 10:16}

Speaking of Life

As I continued to read through the proverbs, I found another phrase that I want to put a little more thought into.  Proverbs 10:11 tells us that “the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.”  How true is that!  How may truly faithful people have spoken words of wisdom into my life?  Oh, how my faith life has been shaped by people who take their spirituality seriously!  {For more information, see Proverbs 10:21}

Acknowledging Sinfulness

Proverbs 10:18 gives us a very interesting perspective on humanity.  “The one who conceals hatred has lying lips.”  This makes a pretty bold statement.  Is this verse not saying that all of us have hatred within us?  If we conceal it, we are lying.  Thus, the best approach is to acknowledge it where it resides and then get it out in the open.

Here’s a really cool dynamic that comes out of this thought.  We know that when we bury things – especially things that we know are sin – deep within us, they fester.  However, when we allow our sinfulness to be brought out and exposed then we can talk about it, find repentance, and receive forgiveness.

The last topic that jumped out at me is yet another reference regarding the fear of the Lord.  “The fear of the Lord prolongs life.”  We already know that the fear of Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  I don’t think those two thoughts are really all that different.  The more wisdom we can embrace, the more likely it is that we will be able to make decisions that are good for us.  When we can bring ourselves to be humble before God and make decisions that are according to His ways, the chance of us making a bad decision goes down drastically.

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