Toward the end of the week we will be getting into Proverbs, perhaps the best collection of wisdom ever written. I originally wrote the following words for day 7, but the length of the comments was a bit more than I had anticipated. We can read these here while I come up with something a bit shorter for day 7's feedback:

What is this "fear of the Lord?" Are we to do as He says out of fear? Fear that He will crush our health or our dreams if we mess up? Not quite. This fear can better be defined as true honor and respect with love and hope built right in.

We are beginning the Proverbs of Solomon. These are pearls of wisdom written by Solomon with the wisdom granted him by God. They are intended to bring understanding to the reader, which will result in a better and godlier life.

We start with a plea to listen to your parents and ignore those who are planning to do evil, for in the end they are only hurting themselves. It's a "reap what you sow" kind of concept.

The wisdom Solomon speaks of is very powerful. He mentions some of the many pitfalls in life that can be avoided if we proactively obey God. The temptations in the world are many, and the repercussions of the acts we are tempted to do are devastating! How many times have you heard a friend say, "I thought nobody would ever know?" Friends, there is no such thing as a victimless crime or a meaningless sin. You may be the victim of your own sins and not even know it yet.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

I read a book by Gary Rosberg not too long ago discusses this very statement. If you don't closely guard your heart, If you don't defend it from the worldly temptations, you will see your happiness shatter. The Enemy knows that the heart is the wellspring of your life and for that very reason, the heart is a prime target. If your heart can be hardened by some petty transgression or by the philosophy you want to follow rather than your Creator, than you've already lost. If you choose never to forgive someone who has wronged you, you will feel the pain and your heart will become a little harder.

We guard our hearts with the scriptures of the Bible. We use prayer to fight our most desperate battles. We lean on God when the going gets tough. And we must learn to love others, including those who don't seem to deserve it.

Yours in Christ,

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The Temple is also built in this reading. Solomon was wise enough to see that if he wanted the best quality, the best workers for the job should be used. He didn't just stay with the Israelites for this woodworking; he found others with more skill. That's a great lesson for anyone who hires people in the working world. Race doesn't matter. Neither does gender. The best person for the job should be the one to get it, unless you're content to accept second best, of course!

Day 2

The decoration of the temple continued on. To add to the decorations David had made, Solomon added beautiful brass fixtures. Again we see that second-best is not good enough for God. That's true in our lives also. He demands either perfection or reconciliation. Perfection is not a viable option for us, so He came up with our answer.

Day 3

That was quite a prayer from Solomon! If you simplify it enough, you'll notice that the prayer mirrors some of the history of the Israelites. "If we turn from you and are captured, then turn back to you with all our hearts, deliver us." That's one example of something God had already done for them. If you want to simplify this further, you could say that he was praying for God's will to be done. So this long and complex prayer can be boiled down to one phrase. "Thy will be done." I'm telling you, those are powerful words!

Day 4

Solomon reminded the people that they need to be committed to God at this time, and he was definitely setting an example here. God seemed impressed enough to appear before him and renew the vow made with David. The message is pretty straightforward. "Obey Me and prosper. Forsake Me and face disaster."

What was wrong with the towns Solomon gave Hiram? The name given them says they were worthless places, but I don't see any description to back that up.

Day 5

Apparently these towns were returned to Solomon, for he does some rebuilding in this reading. It sounds like his prosperity is really beginning to show here. The Queen of Sheba came in person to see if all of the stories of Solomon's wisdom were true. This guy was certainly well known in those days.

Day 6

The wisdom of Solomon is further shown here, as is the praise he gave to the Lord. Solomon was the wisest and perhaps the richest man ever to live, past, present and future. He acknowledged that God must be the focal point of your efforts if they are not to be in vain. What use is a home where there is no love of God? You can go about your life willy-nilly and waste the opportunities you have, or you can live for God and let Him transform your life into something incredible! Why wouldn't you take the latter option?

Day 7

This feels like a full circle from the Fruits of the Spirit study we ended two weeks ago to me. If you recall, fruit is the product of the tree, or in this case, the sign of a God-inspired life. You can tell a tree by its fruit and you can tell a believer by their fruit. Several of the fruits we discussed are mentioned in this reading. So if the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the fruit of the Lord must be a sign that this wisdom is growing within you.

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