Proverbs 365 - April Review

May 1st, 2010

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It's been a whole week since my last post in this space, which is kind of unusual for me (even in weeks when I've been traveling).  Even so, I have not slacked off in my Proverbs 365 project: taking a Proverb for each day of the year and then considering it and applying it for 21st Century living. I'm now officially one-third of the way through.  It's been a challenge to keep up with such a rhythm of daily posting -- including daily devotionals -- but I've found it to be a very worthwhile experience.

Since it's now the beginning of the project's fifth month, I'm going to continue what has now become something of a monthly tradition -- highlighting three of my personal favorites from the past month (and hopefully, in so doing, encourage some cross-over readership!):

My favorite post of the month may have been P2101 - Watercourse.  I wrote it based on Proverbs 21:1, where it says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."  And while the Proverb is cool enough in and of itself, it was especially meaningful to me because of the circumstances through which it came to my attention.  Literally the day before reading through Proverbs 21, my kids and I were at a park near our home, where we discovered a super-cool playground that was based around a manually-operated water-pump dumping its payload out into an inclined sand pit, which could be dug and dammed and channeled in a thousand different directions.  So when I read Proverbs 21:1, fresh off the context of discovering our own neighborhood watercourse, I felt like I received a lot of fresh insight into the Proverb's meaning -- not to mention receiving fresh hope for our world's gridlocked political systems.  You can read these reflections for yourself by following the link above...

Another highlight from the last month the insight I received on the character of God, through reading Proverbs 11:27:  "He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it ."  After considering this Proverb, I wrote a short story entitled P1127 - The Painter and the Retiree.  Loosely based on a recent personal experience at the local bank, this story was a more creative way to analyze and apply the wisdom of this Proverb.  In addition to appreciating any feedback on this particular entry, I'd be curious to hear what you might think of this form of reflecting on the Proverbs...

In addition to the above two Proverbs, I found myself being very challenged and encouraged by the wisdom of Proverbs 28:14, where it says, "Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble."  I personally found myself interacting with the text on a pastoral (ministry) level, seeing how I regularly find myself dealing with people who are going through the mountains and valleys of faith.  As I thought about things, I realized that we all sin and that (thanks to Jesus!) no sin is unforgiveable, but just about any sin can be catastrophic -- depending on the condition of the sinner's heart and his or her response to the sin that was committed.  As I explain in P2814 - The Trouble of Hard-Heartedness, it really comes down to how hard or soft a person's heart is.  It's challenging stuff to consider -- not just on the pastoral level, but on the personal level, too.  I'd challenge you to take a good, hard look at the condition of your heart in the light of Proverbs 28:14 and see what God might reveal to you through that...

For a more comprehensive listing of April's content, here are the titles of all 30 entries, along with direct links to the rest of the content.

May promises to be another great month -- so check it out for yourself at http://proverbs365.ericasp.com.  Others are apparently getting some use out of it, too, as the blog is currently averaging 365 hits per day (a very convenient statistic for a project called Proverbs 365!).  So please feel free to spread the word, too... One of the distinct advantages of the Proverbs is that it's easy to tune into them, whenever one might so choose. It's not like if you missed the first four months, then you're "behind" or anything like that. The Proverbs are just like these little power pellets that can be consumed and digested immediately. So it's never too late to start enjoying them!

This entry is filed under The Bible, Writing, Reading the Bible, Proverbs 365.