The Word

We are taking a break from Acts for a few weeks to improve our Bible study skills!

Today's Verses -- Proverbs 1:1-7

Text:
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight;
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-
6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

In Bible times and for much of our history it was almost impossible for a normal person to read God's word. Even if he or she was literate, the only Bibles (or Torahs) that existed were carefully guarded in the temples and cathedrals. Each had to be hand-written and was priceless.

In certain historical times, each king and pope had to hand-write his own copy of the Bible as a means of fully understanding it's content. In some countries today that is still the only way a person can obtain a personal copy because it is against the law or impossible to purchase one.

While I am glad it isn't hidden away any longer, we seem to have lost respect for the word. In our home we have at least nine copies in several versions and we can access more on the Internet with the press of a button. When I do my Bible reading (which isn't as daily as I'd like it to be), I often skim it like a novel then put it away until the next day. It is easy to follow Einstein's logic of not using up precious brain cells to memorize anything we can readily find somewhere else (an aside -- so why is my head so full of Disney songs?)!

I know that I fit into the fool category that Solomon mentioned in his introduction to Proverbs. I dislike discipline and often waste the time that I had set aside for prayer and Bible study with other seemingly important things that don't have eternal consequences.

How would our world be different if every Christian used the Word for the purposes outlined in our text today?