TODAY IN THE WORD
Benjamin Franklin uttered hundreds of pithy sayings such as “a penny saved is a penny earned.” The little book, The Wit and Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, preserves many of these short yet profound insights into life.

Sometimes the book of Proverbs, our focus this month, feels a bit like “The Wit and Wisdom of King Solomon”–a large collection of seemingly unconnected two-line sayings! Actually, Proverbs is part of a larger type of writing called “wisdom literature.” Far from presenting random sayings about what to do and what not to do, wisdom offers an integrated way of looking at every aspect of life. That’s not to say that wisdom directly addresses every situation we may encounter. Rather, wisdom teaches us how to live according to God’s will.

Proverbs 1-9 introduces the entire book of Proverbs. Today’s passage serves as the opening statement for this larger introduction. In this passage we are introduced to words and types of people that occur throughout Proverbs.

Not surprisingly, the first item listed is wisdom (v. 2), the key promise we can attain by studying Solomon’s proverbs. Notice that wisdom is linked with discipline, suggesting the idea of training, perhaps even hard training. From this training comes the understanding of words of insight. This involves attaining good common sense, including the ability to discern between good and bad. Following naturally from this is the development of good character (v. 3), a quality of the person who knows just what to say or do in any situation. Finally, attaining wisdom gives prudence (v. 4), the idea of knowing the best course of action or knowing when to quit and when to press on.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
People often say that Proverbs presents “skills for living,” which is true–but this can also be misleading if we think of a skill as a technique that’s somehow external to our lives. For example, we can become skilled cooks or drivers without impacting our souls!

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