The Book of Proverbs will not allow Christians to linger in the land of the theoretical. We love to keep Christianity on an abstract level, rather than on an applicational one. Our greatest failing as Christians is not that we know too little (while this is often regrettably true), but that we fail to do what we know we should. The emphasis of Proverbs is both on the acquisition of wisdom and the application of it. Seldom do we find ourselves “in church” in this book, but rather in the home, on the job, and dealing with the mundane matters of daily living.
Proverbs forces the reader to translate principles into practice. Often, it was the prophets who proclaimed the principles which Proverbs specifically related to life. For example, Amos wrote: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). Proverbs instructs us in more specific terms: “Diverse weights and diverse measures are both alike abominations to the LORD” (Prov 20:10). The Book of Proverbs commands the butcher to be righteous by taking his thumb off the scales.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One