Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 22-24.
Throughout the Bible we are told to fear the Lord. Today’s passage talks about the behaviors which follow from that. The writer tells us that fear of the Lord leads to humility. More precisely he tells us that if we are not humble it means that we do not truly fear the Lord. Also, if we fear the Lord we will not envy the wicked, nor we will fret because of the apparent success of those who do evil. Fear of the Lord will quell any desire we might have to share in their lifestyle because we will realize that they have no hope for the future. As importantly, we will not gloat when misfortune comes upon those who have tried to bring us harm. We will not rejoice when their actions come back on them. Instead, we will mourn that one whom God loves is suffering. The writer also tells us that those who fear the Lord will not turn a blind eye to injustice and mistreatment of the innocent. When others are being led to their deaths, do not pretend that you do not see what is happening. While this applies to not pretending that something like the Holocaust is happening, as some Germans did during World War II, it also means not turning a blind eye when people are being convinced to harm themselves. Which brings me to one of those short proverbs which means more to me every day, and which all too many of those who speak in the “public square” today do not heed:
Buy the truth and do not sell it—
wisdom, instruction and insight as well.
All too many who claim to be in the business of informing others willingly sell the truth for their own agenda and spread lies instead. Often choosing to believe the lies themselves, even though they know them to be lies.
I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.