When Solomon was offered the opportunity to ask God for anything he wanted, he didn’t ask for gold, fame, or pleasures. He asked God for wisdom. According to 1 Kings 4:29f, God granted his request. It says, “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men…He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.” In Matthew 12:42 Jesus confirms the Old Testament historical account of the great wisdom of Solomon. In this quote, Jesus also commends the Queen of the South. He says, “The queen of the South…came from the ends of the earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon…”
We don’t have to come from vast distances to get advice from the wisest man who ever lived. We need only open our Bibles to the book of Proverbs. Both wisdom and folly call out to us everyday according to the first 10 chapters of Proverbs. Every day we need to seek its advice. We will face many decisions each day of our lives that demand a decision in the form of a thought, word or action. What Timothy George said about the Bible as a whole is especially appropriate for the book of Proverbs. He writes, “The Bible is a living book. You cannot read it and put it down the way you might the sports page or a Stephen King novel. It addresses you, provokes you, questions you, commands you, calls out to you. It has your number.”
You can read through the entire book of proverbs by reading one chapter a day. There are 31 chapters and there are 31 days in the month of January. I invite you to join me as I begin reading through the book of proverbs on January 1, 2011. My daily devotions will be on the chapter that we read for that day. My sermons for the five Sundays in January will be based on the book of Proverbs also.
Chuck
“Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.” Proverbs 8:34