Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 22-24.

Much like the past few days today’s passage consists of sayings which contain wise advice.  I want to focus on three of the themes contained in these sayings which I think have great relevance to what is happening in the world today.  The writer tells us, “Buy the truth and do not sell it.”  He adds that we should also work for wisdom, instruction, and insight.  In this day people talk about misinformation and disinformation, but how many of them have sought the wisdom and insight to know what is true versus what is misinformation or disinformation.  The writer tells us we should pay for the truth using whatever “coin” necessary.  That “coin” may be money, it may be goods, it may be effort to seek it out.  All too many of us today are satisfied with those who tell us what we want to hear, or believe without question those who lied to us previously. 

Which brings me to the second theme I want to touch on.  The writer warns us to be careful who we hang out with, because we have a tendency to act similarly to those who we spend a lot of time around.  In these sayings the writer warns against spending too much of our time with those who do wicked things or fail to control their temper.  I have learned from other passages, and personal experience, that this has a corollary.  In addition to avoiding spending too much time with those who practice undesirable behaviors we should spend time with those who practice behaviors we wish to emulate.  So, how does this relate to “buying the truth”?  We should spend our time with those who value the truth and seek it out, limiting the time we spend with those who quickly embrace stories which prop up what they wish to believe without spending any time to discover if those stories are true.

Then we have the third theme from today’s passage which I want to touch on.  The writer warns us against envying the wicked, against envying sinners.  The writer had mentioned this previously, which tells us how important he thought this is.  Sometimes we become envious of those who do wrong in order to get what they want and forget why it is wrong.  In the context of what else I am writing about today, perhaps they are people who misstate facts in order to win an argument and we envy the ease with which they convince people to their side.  We may be tempted to follow their example, but that brings us up against the second part of that phrase I quoted in the first paragraph about not selling the truth.  The truth is more valuable than anything anyone can offer us for accepting, or promoting, a lie.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 18-21.

Like yesterday, today’s passage contains many short sayings which sum up complex wisdom in short, pithy phrases.  Since these proverbs have many different themes I will focus on just a couple of things which feel the most important of these today.  The writer tells us about the importance of words, both those we choose to speak and those to which we choose to listen.  If we take more pleasure in listening until we understand than in telling others our opinions we both gain wisdom and demonstrate that we have it.  But when we listen we need to listen with discernment and be careful not to believe rumors of which appeal to our prurient interests, but otherwise have little value.  Even worse than listening to such rumors is succumbing to the temptation to spread them.  It feels good to be “in the know”, but the damage done is never worth it.

The writer also tells us how wealth brings friends.  He offers both a simple description of how things are and a warning, actually, two warnings.  First, he warns us that many of those we think of as friends will be nowhere to be found when we need them most.  Second, he warns us to not allow ourselves to only help those who can help us.  God rewards those who provide assistance to those who can never repay that aid.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.