AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR LIFE

“The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth —Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” -Proverbs 1:1–7

We are complicated people. Raising children is a complicated task. The book of Proverbs was given so that we might have an instruction manual for life.

The Proverbs Were Given:

• For us to know wisdom and instruction
• So we might understand words of insight
• So we might have instruction for dealing wisely with people and situations
• For us to gain righteousness, justice, and equity
• To give prudence to the simple
• To give knowledge and discretion to the youth
• To increase the learning of even the wise
• So we might obtain guidance for life
• For us to understand other proverbs, sayings, riddles, and the words of the wise.

What an essential and important book we hold in our hands. Verse 7 tells us that the kick off of our learning and growing in wisdom is the fear of the Lord. It is the beginning of knowledge.

Being an HVAC service technician, I read quite a number of instruction manuals. Without these manuals, I find myself fumbling through the equipment and not really understand what I am doing. After I read the manual, I typically gain a deeper understanding of the unit I am servicing. I understand the principles behind the pieces, and it makes it much easier to fix the problems.

Proverbs is an instruction manual for life. We are complicated folks, and it is hard to figure out how we can be fixed without having the proper literature.