Listen and learn
Opening Prayer
Lord, I’m taking time to quiet myself and listen, expecting to hear from You.
Read Proverbs 22:17-23:9
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
[17] Saying 1 Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, [18] for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. [19] So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you. [20] Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, [21] teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth, so that you bring back truthful reports to those you serve? [22]Saying 2 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, [23] for the LORD will take up their case and will exact life for life. [24]Saying 3 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, [25] or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared. [26]Saying 4 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; [27] if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. [28]Saying 5 Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors. [29]Saying 6 Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank. [1]Saying 7 When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, [2] and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. [3] Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. [4]Saying 8 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. [5] Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. [6]Saying 9 Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies; [7] for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. [8] You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments. [9]Saying 10 Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How should we position ourselves?“Pay attention… turn your ear… apply…” (17). In these days of soundbites, news briefs, tweets and Facebook, it’s easy to exist on a diet of snacks, and not give ourselves leisure to absorb solid chunks of truth. We need time to engage fully with God.The writer has two aims. First, so that “our trust may be in the Lord” (19). We can have confidence that the principles he teaches work; they originate from God and, when we apply them, our relationship with him deepens. The second aim is so that our words are truthful and life-giving (18,21; 23:9). 1 Peter 3:15 exhorts us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Absorbing truth and storing it up in our hearts gives us a “bank” to draw from. But humility is a key attitude: no one likes a know-it-all!Areas of specific application follow: care for the poor (22,23); don’t get too close to volatile people (24,25); be moderate in your appetites (23:1–3); don’t make riches your main goal in life (4,5).“Pay attention… turn your ear… apply…” (17). In these days of soundbites, news briefs, tweets and Facebook, it’s easy to exist on a diet of snacks, and not give ourselves leisure to absorb solid chunks of truth. We need time to engage fully with God.The writer has two aims. First, so that “our trust may be in the Lord” (19). We can have confidence that the principles he teaches work; they originate from God and, when we apply them, our relationship with him deepens. The second aim is so that our words are truthful and life-giving (18,21; 23:9). 1 Peter 3:15 exhorts us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Absorbing truth and storing it up in our hearts gives us a “bank” to draw from. But humility is a key attitude: no one likes a know-it-all!Areas of specific application follow: care for the poor (22,23); don’t get too close to volatile people (24,25); be moderate in your appetites (23:1–3); don’t make riches your main goal in life (4,5).
Apply
For a week, or at least a day or two, turn off the TV, social media and other distractions. Use this time to engage truth.
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to receive truth, and let it sink into my heart so that it shapes my thinking and motivates my actions.
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