Year 8, Day 318: Proverbs 27

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Proverbs 27 is another one of those highly random chapters.  For example, I love Proverbs 27:7.  Whoever is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.  What can this teach us about life?  We learn that life is about perspective.  Take a person who has everything.  They tend to be satisfied with nothing.  However, take someone who has nothing.  They tend to be very easy to satisfy.  Often times our reactions to something reveals more about where we are in life than the thing itself.

Or, take the second half of Proverbs 27:10.  Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.  What can this teach us?  Human beings are relational.  We need one another.  When we need help, we are more readily helped by a person who can be present for listening or assistance.

I also like the way that this chapter ends.  We hear about knowing one’s flock instead of pursuing one’s riches.  The author then goes on to say that riches fade and come out of season, but one’s flock can feed and clothe you forever.  I think that there is something to this.  There is a lesson on prioritization.  Chase after that which can satisfy life, not satisfy the fleeting lusts of the heart. 

I think there is also a lesson about having a realistic perspective.  Other places in the Bible speak about that which we treasure being connected to our heart.  With what are we willing to be satisfied?  Are we content with that which sustains life, or do we look past that which sustains us in search of value where it cannot be found?

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