The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 17th on Proverbs 17:1-4

January 17;  Proverbs 17, Verses 1-4

[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers.  My amateur comments are offered below the verses from Proverbs.]

Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly, have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, the same number as most of our months.  Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through the month.  A person might read through the Proverbs a chapter a day during any month, but why mess with your head (reading an extra chapter on one, two, or three days!) like that when there are 7 months every year perfectly suited for the endeavor?

My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses from each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and then offer a few comments from The Barking Owl.  So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, and so on, until December comes around and we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading.  If you are smarter than I am (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to at least be wiser than The Barking Owl , though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon!

[All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]

Proverbs 17

¹ Better a dry crust with peace and quiet
   than a house full of feasting, with strife.

 ² A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son
   and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

 ³ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
   but the LORD tests the heart.

 ⁴ A wicked person listens to deceitful lips;
   a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

1) What is feasting except an additional bonus to a great life?  And what is a great life if it is not free of strife?  We all face some measure of conflict every day, and we need to take it in stride.  I take the proverbialist (?) to mean steady, ongoing, regular and maddening marital strife as the bane of an otherwise hopeful existence with regular shares of peace and quiet.  Yes, I would choose the dry crust.

2) What father would not appreciate the 'interference' of a good servant, if his son were wayward?  If he ends up virtually saving the son from a disgraceful ruin, he should end up sharing the young man's inheritance.  Better half for the boy, than nothing!

3) Crucibles are hot!  We are told here that we should expect equal or greater 'treatment' from the Lord.  Full of impurities and debris, we need to have those contaminants removed, and should embrace the heat by envisioning what finished product we may become in His good hands.

4) Which comes first I wonder.  Does the listening to lies foster the wickedness inside?  Or does such attention produce the liar?  It doesn't matter; if we can avoid believing lies, we will certainly be better off.  I think the first step is to stop WANTING to believe the lies that might promise to be a benefit.