SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
12/24/2012 1:57 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
Intro to Proverbs PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Proverbs
Message of
the verses: I have had to do some soul searching along
with prayer in order to figure out the direction that I want to go for my
Spiritual Diaries. It has been my desire
for a long time to study the entire Bible and to write my Spiritual Diaries on
what I learn. I also made the decision a
while ago to use the commentaries of Warren Wiersbe to give me the help and
direction that I need in order to understand the Bible. I have said on many different occasions that
Warren Wiersbe puts the cookies on the shelf where you can reach them. I do use other helps in my study of God’s
Word, but follow the outline that is found in the series that Warren Wiersbe
calls “Be” books. I am not sure what he
entitled his Be book for proverbs, but he does state in this commentary that
his original title for Proverbs was “Be Skillful.”
On all of the other “Be” books that I have read Warren
Wiersbe follows the Scripture books that he is writing on a paragraph at a
time, and this means that all of the verses are covered when the study is
finished. I believe that the book of
Proverbs study will be a bit different and so I will follow the outline that he
has in his book.
It will take a bit of time to get through the
introduction to the book of Proverbs as there are five different points that we
will look at. The list of these points
is as follows, “(1) What is the major theme of the book? (2) Who wrote the book
and how is it written? (3) What is the key verse that helps ‘unlock’ the
message of the book? (4) What does this
book say about Jesus Christ? (5) What
must I do to get the most out of this book?”
In today’s Spiritual Diary we will look at the answer to
the first question that Dr. Wiersbe asks before we he begins to study a book
from the Bible and that question is “What is the major theme of the book?” I suppose that any person who has ever read
much from the book of Proverbs can answer this question for the book of
Proverbs is in a section of the Bible which is called “Wisdom Literature,” and
so the major theme of Proverbs is wisdom, which is what this SD will be
about.
One more thing that I wish to mention and that is that we
will continue to look at the book of Mark, one chapter each month and so we
will begin to look at the 14th chapter of the book of Mark in the
month of January, along with our study of Proverbs.
I mentioned that Proverbs is in the section of the Bible
called “Wisdom Literature,” and the authors of these books were wrestling with
some of the most difficult questions of life, seeking to understand life’s problems
from God’s point of view. It seems that
as believers we tend to put our brain on the shelf and just walk by faith, but
we should not stop thinking. The Lord
expects us to apply ourselves intellectually as we do some serious study of His
Word. Matthew 22:37 states, “And he said
to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your
mind. Ephesians 5:15 states, “Live
life, then, with a due
sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning of life but as those who
do (Philips).” As we study the book of
Proverbs hopefully we will learn to live our lives “with a due sense of
responsibility,” and will be kept from being like men who do not know the
meaning of life.
I wish to give some quotes from Dr. Wiersbe comments on
wisdom from his commentary on Proverbs so we can all enjoy some of those
cookies that he places on the shelf where we can reach them. “It isn’t enough simply to be educated and
have knowledge, as important as education is. We also need wisdom, which is the ability to
use knowledge. Wise men and women have
the competence to grasp the meaning of a situation and understand what to do
and how to do it in the right way at the right time.”
Dr. Roy Zuk’s definition of wisdom is “Wisdom means being
skillful and successful in one’s relationships and responsibilities…observing
and following the Creator’s principles of order in the moral universe.”
“Biblical wisdom begins with a right relationship with
the Lord. The wise person believes that
there is a God, that He is the Creator and Ruler of all things, and that He has
put within His creation a divine order that, if obeyed, leads ultimately to
success.” “Biblical wisdom has little if
any relationship to a person’s IQ or education, because it is a matter of moral
and spiritual understanding. It has to
do with character and values; it means looking at the world through the grid of
God’s truth.”
“Wisdom isn’t something theoretical; it’s something very
practical that affects every area of life.
It gives order and purpose to life; it gives discernment in making
decisions; and it provides a sense of fulfillment in life to the glory of God.”
“Wisdom keeps us in harmony with the principles and
purposes that the Lord has built into His world so that as we obey God,
everything works for us and not against us.
This doesn’t mean we don’t experience trials and difficulties, because
trials and difficulties are a normal part of life. But it means we have the ability to deal with
these adversities successfully so that we grow spiritually and the Lord is
glorified.”
Warren Wiersbe concludes this section with these words,
“It’s one thing to make a living, but quite something else to make a life.”
12/24/2012 2:57 PM
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