Proverbs 25-26

Is it terrible that I never enjoyed reading Proverbs?  

I think part of the reason why is because I like reading stories that have a specific purpose or a theme.  But in Proverbs neither of these really exists.  Each verse can be so different from the next.  The other reason why I never really enjoyed Proverbs is because I grew up in a home where it was thought that the Proverbs were actually “promises.”  

My mom would quote little proverbs to me here and there to in order to manipulate me into doing something.  Take proverbs 25:16 for instance, which says that if you eat too much honey you will vomit.  Well, I like honey.  And if I want to eat a lot of honey, by golly I am going to eat a LOT of honey.  But my mom would catch me dumping honey into my toast in the morning and quote this verse at me so that I would feel guilty over the fact that I just used a quarter of the honey in the honey jar.

I also had a habit of saying “just joking” all of the time.  For instance, when I was playing with my friends outside, sometimes things would get a little heated, and I would call my friends names, but I was always quick to add on “just joking” at the end so that my friends knew that I really didn't think their head actually looked like a butt.  But again, if my mom heard me saying any of that to my friends, after she finished washing my mouth out with soap or spanking my bottom, she would quote Proverbs 26:18-19 like I was actually shooting flaming death arrows at my friends.

Because of instances like this, I have a hard time reading through Proverbs. 

But when I do, I always find little nuggets that I can meditate on for a while.  Like, Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a mater; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”  Here we find an instance that seems to point out a great truth about God.  Basically that God does not need to search out anything.  He already knows everything clearly and nothing is hidden from him.  Sometimes what we see about a situation is not what God sees.  And, sometimes what we may find unjust, is perfectly just is God eyes.

I suppose that I can understand why my mom always quoted Proverbs.  Even though many of them are not “promises”, all of them are helpful.  The Proverbs are great words of advice from a Father to his children.