SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 1:5.    A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.

Oh Friends, it’s Monday morning, and I’m having trouble finding a Bit. Hn! However, I’ve been reading a book, ‘Hidden Treasures – abundant living in the riches of proverbs,’ by Gloria Copeland, where she goes through each chapter of Proverbs and highlights the salient points. Now at the end of each chapter she also gives some thoughts on the subject; ‘Wisdom for Today,’ which seem very useful. Here are the ones from the first chapter. (1) Honour God in every choice or decision you make today. (2) Make the quality decision, ‘Whether it seems easy or difficult, I will do what the Word says.’ (3) Tell the Lord today, ‘Show me where I am wrong. Reveal to me the things I need to know.’ Oh Friends, I sincerely believe that if we follow those three simple steps of wisdom today, our lives, and the lives of those that come into contact with us, will benefit greatly. Now let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with verve and enthusiasm. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ Now let’s go out and put that into action my people! A word of warning though to those in my neck of the woods, please be careful on the roads because they will be in terrible shape with the recent snowfall, though it won’t be as bad as normal since it’s a Public Holiday, Family Day, in our lovely Province of Ontario. And as for a Bit, I just got a zeppo. Our God is so good it’s unbelievable. He just had the Spirit reason with me: In time of need, to whom do you look? Obviously to the Lord God Almighty, was my immediate answer. And since you’ve been talking about wisdom, wouldn’t it be wise to find a Bit dealing with that? Of course! And where do you go to find wisdom? To God’s Word, the Good Book. And where in it is wisdom best laid out? In Proverbs. Elementary my dear Watson! (smile) So I went to Proverbs, the God inspired words of Cousin Sol, to the very beginning, and found it just waiting there for me to come a looking. ‘A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto (acquire) wise counsels.’ And if that isn’t the gospel truth my brethren, I don’t know what is! But why do we need wisdom eh? Because wisdom gives us the basic skill(s) for successful living. But to live a truly successful life also entails living a godly life. That means obeying and following the dictates of Jehovah God, our Creator and heavenly Father. And we can only know and understand His requirements by reading, studying and meditating on His Holy Word, found in the Good Book. And as Cousin Sol states later on: ‘The fear (awesome reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy (One) is understanding.’  (Prov.9:10) That’s why he describes the purpose of Proverbs as: ‘To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive (understand or discern) the words of understanding.’ (Prov.1:2) Here, the scholars determine that ‘Instruction’ refers to the moral discipline of our lives, and ‘Understanding’ as the capability to discern; as between good and bad, true and false, important and unimportant. And Cousin Sol continues as to the purpose of Proverbs: ‘To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgement, and equity.’ (Prov.1:3) The scholars claim that ‘Wisdom’ in this context, is a different Hebrew word than that used in verse 1, which means things like ‘wise behaviour,’ ‘wise dealing, or ‘good sense,’ what we’d probably term common sense. Meanwhile ‘Justice’ pertains to righteousness, or conforming to God’s law, and ‘Judgement’ to right behaviour in those who interpret the legal aspects of the law; judge’s verdicts etc. ‘Equity’ then deals with the fairness of our dealings with each other. And the last basic purpose is: ‘To give subtilty (understanding or discernment) to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.’ (Prov.1:3) The scholars contend that ‘The simple,’ are easily influenced, naïve young people, while ‘Knowledge’ implies the grasping of true reality, (not the virtual kind of which we have such a good grasp today) which includes some experience of God, and ‘Discretion,’ refers to the ability to conceive and carry out the correct plans or duties in any given situation. And that Friends, is how Cousin Sol saw and describes his purpose in penning Proverbs. In a nutshell, its simply pointing us in the right direction, to the godly path, the straight and narrow way that leads to salvation and everlasting life. Hopefully my people, we’ll all glean and/or gain something today from those simple but powerful words of truth. Now let’s close with some more wise words of Cousin Sol, where he reiterates our Bit in a slightly different manner. ‘Give instruction to a wise man, and he will yet be wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.’ (Prov.9:9) And all God’s people said a hearty ‘Amen!’ as they went out to attain wisdom and achieve understanding. Much LOVE, fellow Friends in Christ!…and they were not able to resist…the wisdom and the spirit…by which he (Stephen) spake… (Acts 6:10)