REFLECTIONS ON THE PROVERBS (Here, I continue to note and briefly discuss passages from God's book of wisdom that I find especially enlightening.)

PROVERBS 9:10:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight."

Awesome passage! When I try to “figure things out” on my own, I usually end up in a pickle. When I try to put myself and my desires first, it hurts me and it hurts others. These are lessons I have learned the hard way, but I could have learned more easily had I simply listened to God. “There is a way that seems right...” to we human beings, but it’s usually wrong! A wise person builds on the Rock, God! (Fear, as used in Biblical passages like this, doesn't mean terror as much as it means awe and respect for the perfect, ominipotent, omniscient God.)

PROVERBS 10:4:
"A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich."

There is great truth to this so long as it isn’t used to explain away the poverty of those who have been discriminated against and held down. It also shouldn’t be used to justify laziness. There is nothing wrong with wealth, so long as it isn't the focus of one's life. The famously misquoted passage of the New Testament tells us that "the love of money" is the root of evil. Even a perfunctory look at the world will bear the truth of that statement out!