proverbs: how to become a fool

update on my challenge

i have just finished up the book of proverbs in my Bible reading challenge.  back in august i encouraged readers to join me in making a personal plan to get into the Word more.  several responded with different plans - reading through the new testament, the entire Bible in chronological order, or reading a proverb a day.  i decided to read through my Bible cover to cover from august 25, 2010- august 25, 2011, approximately 3 chapters a day, using you version to track my reading and unlocking the bible by david pawson to be my companion book.  (if you want it too, purchasing it from the link on this page will help support my blog).  any others who dove into their own Bible reading challenge still with me?  any who made plans in january still going strong? 

i am here to report that i have had many days where i miss my reading or only get to part of my reading.  i warned you and myself back in august that i can get pretty discouraged if i don't do something "all the way," and can get tempted to just quit.  i think the biggest help in overcoming this has been using you version.  simply checking the little box to say i completed the chapter has helped me see when i get behind or feel accomplished when i do read.  also, having the app on my iphone has made it extremely helpful to play catch up when i get behind by reading my chapters on my phone in the dark in bed, while i am waiting in line or in a waiting room or pretty much wherever, and has made me have no excuse for being able to catch up and try to keep up.  so if you are behind in whatever your goal was, it is not too late!  pick up where you left off today and keep on going.  no one is perfect at this, but as we discipline ourselves to actually read the Word and not just rely on a sermon on sunday morning or our favorite podcast to feed us, we will feel so much more alive! 

proverbs

so you may be wondering about my title to this post:  proverbs: how to become a fool.  there is so much in the book of proverbs on what wisdom looks like, but there is also so much on what folly looks like.  most scholars agree that king solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, wrote and compiled this book of proverbs largely to instruct his son about how to live and what will come of choosing wisdom or choosing folly.  some believe that he wrote this book in the middle age years of his life and was warning his son to not follow in his footsteps on some of his own poor choices.  though the proverbs aren't promises that we can "name and claim," they are general truths about what the outcome is of how we live our lives.  they are true in the majority of situations.

so, since everyone usually approaches this book with wanting to gain wisdom, i wanted to do something a little different and focus on what it looks like to not have wisdom.  part of wisdom is knowing what wisdom is not!

how to become a fool 101 - the book of proverbs

1. talk a lot.  say whatever comes to mind.  hold nothing back.  for the sake of conversation or being "real," have no filter.  make sure to dominate most, if not all, conversation with talking about yourself, what you think, how you feel, and especially about how others have wronged you and how you are better than them.  and then keep on talking.  have no restraint.  just let it flow.

2. go after the adulteress.  disregard her spouse and your spouse.  be discontent with the wife (or husband) you decided to marry and lust after someone else.  when tempted to lust and to cheat, just go ahead and give in.  don't worry about the repercussions because it is all about the moment.

3. have no fear of the Lord.  it is all good.  anything goes.  do what you please.  do not seek out to know Him more, only worry about knowing yourself.  oh yeah... and what others think about you.

4. be unteachable.  be uncorrectable.  be untouchable.  when someone comes to point out weakness or sin in your life, lash out and call them the fool.  make sure they feel really bad about what they said, so they won't try that again. also, be super disrespectful of your parents.  what do they know, right?

5. pride is actually a good thing.  make yourself look like either the hero or the victim in every situation.  make every possible way to think about how cool you are and make sure everyone else knows just how cool you really are.  if someone treats you wrong, you don't have to take that!  stand up for yourself and let them know how valuable you really are.  humility is weakness, right?  it means people will just walk all over you.  pride and proving yourself will get you where you want to go.

6. get as much as you can.  accumulate lots and lots of money and lots and lots of stuff and make sure you don't share it.  when you see the poor, make sure you look the other way and ignore them.  you are better and deserve what you have, right?  don't look or listen because they will weaken you and you might just feel bad and give them something that they will probably use poorly.  that is why they are poor, right?  live the american dream of more and more for yourself and let everyone else figure out how to get ahead for themselves.  survival of the fittest. 

that hurts!

if you are reading through these and feel an ouch in your spirit and suddenly are thinking hmmm... maybe i should try to get some wisdom, you are not alone!  i am seeing so much foolishness in my heart that i was trying to pretend was wisdom and am realizing i don't really know true wisdom like i thought i did.  or even if i knew what was right, i have often hardened my heart and lived how i have felt like living. 

maybe i need a good dose of the fear of the Lord.  solomon said that was a good place to start.

what do you think?

any other ways to become a fool you can think of from this wonderful "how to" book?  i would love to hear them in the comments below.

charis

4 things you can take from leviticus

why this picture?  i took it and it just inspires me.

Bible reading update for you all (because i know you are sitting on the edge of your seat dying to know how i am doing!):

i am still a bit behind my 3 chapters a day reading goal to make it through the Bible cover to cover in a year.  i did make some catch up progress in reading when a couple days i had the time to get through more than my 3 chapters.  unfortunately, the last few days i have once again been reading less than 3 chapters.  but i keep on going.  can't give up or i will never finish. (deep thought, i know.)

i went to youversion.com and set up a reading plan that started back on my first day of starting this challenge.  i am quite encouraged when i see the progress i have made, even though i am behind.  i have read 10.7 percent of the Bible so far!  now when i am only in the last chapters of leviticus, that is pretty encouraging.  i would highly recommend starting up a reading plan on the youversion site, as you can make any custom reading plan.  you can even do your reading online or on your phone and check off the chapter when you are finished to keep track of where you are in your plan.  something is so rewarding about marking the little box with a check. 

so, i didn't have very high hopes for getting much out of the book of leviticus, but i have been pleasantly surprised at how much i have taken from it so far!  it really helps that i have been reading david pawson's book, unlocking the Bible, as a companion to my cover to cover reading challenge. 

here are 4 cool facts and reasons to read leviticus to help inspire you if you are daunted by the third book of the Bible as i have been in the past:


4 things to take from reading leviticus

1. be holy as I AM holy - this is the key text to the book of leviticus and is frequently quoted and alluded to in the new testament writings.

2. the call to be holy versus just being "good" - in our culture and mindset we separate all life into either good or bad.  leviticus shows us that God doesn't separate life the way we do.  He separates life into three categories:  unclean (sinful or bad), clean and common (secular or good), and holy (sacred and godly).  what i take from this is just being good isn't what gets me to God.  He is looking for a people who will be set apart unto Him alone, even separated from that which is permissible and not considered sin. 

3. the laws for God's government - there is talk in many circles about what God's government would look like.  well, we know exactly what God's government would look like if we take a look at leviticus.  He took israel to be a people for Himself and set Himself as king over them in a theocracy and these were His laws for His nation.  no, we are not held under the law now that we are saved and being sanctified by the blood of Christ, but this is how God governed when He was the only governor of His people.  my husband compares reading through leviticus to reading through our country's constitution.  it was the "constitution" of israel.

4.  imagery of Jesus - if one is not familiar with the book of leviticus, it is difficult to fully grasp the imagery that is used in the new testament of Jesus being the sacrificial lamb for our sins.  also, there are many many places in both the gospels and in paul's letters that something is referenced from leviticus and the audience they were talking to were very familiar with it; we are not.  reading through this book makes so much more of the new testament make sense in context.



just try it for yourself

there is much much more you can get from reading leviticus, but i just wanted to help with a couple reasons to not be afraid of it any more!  and if you are reading it, i do recommend going through it at a quicker pace rather than getting stuck in it for a month.

thanks for accountability here on my bible reading challenge.  sometimes what keeps me from quitting when life gets busy and it feels daunting to keep on going is simply knowing that you all know i committed to do it.  accountability can be a powerful thing!

what is something you have taken from a time you have read leviticus?  if you have never read it before, would you give it a try just to say you did?  what other book of the Bible have you read that you were pleasantly surprised by what you got out of it because of not having high hopes for it?  

charis

100th post!

my 100th post on this blog!  wow!  thank you so much to those of you who take time out of your busy lives to read the things i write here.  i am so honored and humbled by your attention to my ramblings on the page working out the things in my heart.  thank you for each of your comments.   i know it takes time and energy to write out a comment.  i really appreciate it.


update on my challenge:

well, i have had several of you respond either on my challenge post or privately message me that you wanted to join me on the Bible reading challenge.  here is my personal update:  i decided that the best way for me to approach a cover to cover read of the Bible was to have a companion to my reading.  i decided upon using unlocking the Bible, by david pawson.  

so far, so good.  it is a concise overview of each book of the Bible and opening up my eyes to what i am actually reading.  david pawson reminded me that all the Word of God is inspired by Him, and He has a reason for everything that is included.  Jesus said Himself when talking to the 2 disciples on the road to emmaus that all the law and the prophets spoke of Him.  (luke 24:13-29)  i am seeking to find Him, to really encounter Him in a fresh and new way as i read through the Word this time. 


i just finished up reading genesis tonight.  i must admit that i got behind in my 3 chapters a day goal.  there have been several days that i did not get my 3 chapters in.  i know that i must not quit, but start where i left off the next morning and try my best to get the 3 chapters in that day.  even if i end up getting through it a bit slower than the 1 year goal, i still will have got through the whole thing in a straight shot.  that is worth so much more than doing something perfectly.  how are you doing if you took the challenge?  what book/chapter are you currently on?  what is grabbing you and encouraging you as you read?


the story in genesis that grabbed my attention so dramatically this time reading it was the story of joseph.  what a righteous man!  there is nothing negative said of his character, though every other main character in the book of genesis had major character flaws.  he is said to be a shadow of Jesus to come.  having that in mind in reading the story, it hit me on a whole new level to read of the incredible level of forgiveness and tenderness he walked in concerning his brothers and being sold as a slave only to become a prisoner before becoming the most powerful man in egypt.  it said he wept so loudly when he told his brothers his true identity that everyone all around could hear him.  he saw the hand of God even in his worst trials and betrayals of those closest to him.  he wasn't wrapped up in the offense of how they really did wrong him.  he could see that what they meant for evil, God meant for good to preserve many many lives.  wow.  i have so much growing to do in humility before i get to the place where he was.  i am so challenged and yet overwhelmed by love that this is the very way Jesus responded to our rejection of Him.  we killed Him, and He offered us eternal life if we would just believe on Him.  


i am sitting at the watch during a devotional set, with only 12% left on my computer battery, so that is all for now.  again, thank you to each and every one of you who visit my blog.  i am truly blessed by you.  you have encouraged me to obey what the Lord told me to do: write!  

charis

and every eye will see

behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. so it is to be. amen. revelation 1:7

so, funny kid story: a couple years back bill had been talking to asher about when Jesus is coming back. he had told him some of the signs leading up to His return, and asher, being my deep thinking child, had pondered these things in his heart. one morning he looked out the window, while sitting on the couch with bill, and said, "well, i guess Jesus isn't coming back today." when bill asked him how he knew that today wasn't the day, asher responded, "there are no clouds." oh, the gems of revelation out of the mouth of a three year old!

as cute as this story is, it is also one of great hope and encouragement to me. children have such simple faith and sometimes i get into a thinking that you have to be super educated or deep to understand what the bible says, especially about the second coming of Christ. yet, a great bible teacher from great britain named david pawson reminds us that the bible and even the book of revelation was written for common people to understand. basically, what it says is to be taken literally unless it says it is to be interpreted as a symbol. sure there is cultural context to be taken into account at times that will enhance the understanding of a passage or entire book, but how amazingly comforting to me to know that God intended for me to understand His word.

i am also so encouraged this morning as i meditate on this verse because i realize once again that i will not miss Him. i went through a period of time when i was younger, probably partially due to the movie a thief in the night back in the seventies, where i was quite fearful that somehow i would miss the second coming of Jesus and be "left behind." however, John the writer of the book of revelation encourages His readers at the beginning of his book that every eye will see Him. that includes me! thank you Lord for this assurance and great hope that we have of your return! it will not be symbolic, it will not be for a just few, but Jesus is coming back for real. we will know the day of His coming if we watch for the signs even He Himself told us to be on watch for.

be encouraged! our deliverer is coming, He will rule and reign on the earth, and His kingdom will know no end.

charis