PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man” (Proverbs 8:1-4).

“Doth not wisdom cry?” Well, yes, she does; and if you can make any application at all from the Bible you would draw that God is very much for street preaching, that God is very much for public witnessing and public testimony. It's one of the oddities of our day that it seems like it just escapes the notice of even people that reportedly read the Bible. One of the things about preaching, that you have to be careful of, even though you're a Christian, that you are one of the ones that wind up being offended by it.

Many of us have had the experience of standing on a street corner and hearing somebody else start preaching. We're there with him to help him, and then when they start out you kind of flinch because you know what is happening out there as they preach. It's a biblical fact that most preaching is offensive. There's a certain thing about it, and one of the things that you can’t avoid however, is the fact that it is a biblical mandate. It is one of the commonest things that I don't understand how people can't see; and this is one of them. We are commanded to preach the gospel to every creature, right? It isn’t difficult to prove to you about the biblical nature of soul-winning and witnessing, and the necessity of it. But the one thing that does need to be said it that it is not just the job of a paid ministerial staff. It is everyone’s responsibility.

I will say that I would hate to be a Bible-believing Christian, and wind up going to a good Bible-preaching church and then wind up dying (or being raptured) and going to heaven and having never set foot on the street with the purpose of witnessing to others. I would hate for that to be the case with me. If you can't go all the time, at least it should be a relatively regular thing for you.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let's read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let's keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

If anyone would like to be added to the ping list, please let me know either by post or by p.m.

For more books on all topics of the Bible, visit my web site at:

BAPTIST BIBLE BELIEVERS WEBSITE

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.