A Guide For Life

Many years ago, an elder brother… wrote to a young relative about to be baptized and urged him to “make the book of Proverbs his guide for life”… I thought this piece of advice rather poor, and felt sure that there were many other books of the Bible which could have been recommended before Proverbs. At the time I found this particular part of Scripture rather dry and unrewarding. It seemed like a mere collection of truisms without any great spiritual worth. But the years between have mellowed this view, and led to a much deeper appreciation, approximating much more nearly to the view of the brother referred to, who has long since fallen asleep…

For this is not just a jumbled assortment of smart sayings about this and that. It is a book of principles. Almost any verse is calculated to stop a man in his tracks once its meaning is grasped, though this may not always lie on the surface. Like wisdom itself, the meaning has to be sought for “as for hid treasure”. Some of these apparently obvious statements are found to be loaded with deep spiritual significance when examined more closely.