Bible Verses: Proverbs

This week we will focus on Proverbs 14. The Bible Verses series will continue to focus on Proverbs until mid-June when we will move on to Ecclesiastes. This series on Proverbs has taught me a lot. It has taught me to analyze each verse in the Bible more closely. I believe God has much to say to us through Proverbs, and many truths that we can carry away. I would encourage all of us including myself to continue to seek God regarding Proverbs, and to continue to read His word. May it uplift and challenge us and deepen our Faith.

Proverbs 14

Verse 8

"The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving. "
I believe this verse says many things about our journey in life. The first would be to analyze our path and our decisions. The second one is to discern whether or not our path and our decisions are pleasing God and whether they follow God. Finally, I think it warns us against a path that would take us away from the Lord. Taking time to analyze our lives and our walk with God can reveal where we still need to change, and where his mercy can renew our walk with Him.

Verse 10

"The heart knows its own bitterness and no stranger shares its joy."

I believe this verse has much to say to each of us based on our own particular walk of Faith. It indicates clearly that our heart is bitter. This is a problem that only Christ's redemption can fix. Our heart might lead us astray, only through the Holy Spirit can our heart be cleansed. This is a truth although at times hard to hear. We are not good, we cannot control our own hearts. A conscience is not going to fix us, trying to do the right thing will not either, only the guidance of the Holy Spirit and a relationship with Christ will ever overcome sin.

Verse 13

"Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief."

This verse is promising. It is so true and yet at first seems sad to hear. Upon closer inspection it reveals that during a time of grief we might still laugh though our heart hurts, and even though we are in grief, we can remember we have joy. The end of joy may be grief, this reminds me of Job. To experience joy often times we bear a hardship as well. Job bore a burden and experienced the loss of everything only in the end to draw him closer to God. May this be encouraging to us as we face grief, God knows our hurts, he sees us through.

Verse 15

"The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps."

This verse holds a lot of truth. I have personally walked a road of believing everything someone told me and giving them my full trust only to be hurt in the end. I don't think this verse calls us to be overly skeptical of everyone to a point where we don't trust. It calls us rather, to examine our own path, to search our own motives and determine whether a decision or what someone tells us is true. I think this speaks of our journey just because we hear something does not mean we need to act. We need to pray, think, and analyze before making a decision.

Verse 27

"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death."

This verse to me is a call to seek God and be free. A snare of death can be comprised of many things. It can be something that seeks to remove us from the truth. It can be a literal battle, mental battle, spiritual struggle, or addiction. I feel like this verse tells us to lay aside those snares, to run into the arms of Christ. To be set free.