December is the last month in another wonderful year! I always have so many warm thoughts as I remember happy times from many years ago spent with family around big tables or spread out on couches in my Oma and Opa's house in Virginia or Nana's house in Philadelphia. I imagine the games and jokes all of us cousins used to play together. I remember the energy of an active family with lots of stories to share and the sound of laughter as we enjoyed each other's company. I remember how much I admire all the family members who have been part of my life and those who continue to be so important to me.
Then, I get sentimental about the amazing memories Isaac is making with his GiGi and Pappy, Oma and PopPop, and great-grandma Granny. He is so blessed to have this fun, happy time with each of them! Plus, he has aunts and uncles and cousins who are making fun memories with him. I hope he will always cherish the time he is spending with his family like I do.
As I think about the warmth of family and love that surrounds our life, I turn my eyes to my Heavenly Father and thank Him for giving us the blessing of family. Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17). I not only take time at this time of the year to remember family fun, but to reflect on my relationship with God. I look back at the time I spent reading the Bible, journaling prayers, or studying books to increase my knowledge of God. I can see times when I did not spend enough time with God and felt hopeless or depressed. I remember days when everything was joyfully illuminated by God's goodness because I had surrendered everything to God and trusted fully in Him. I contrast the darker times with those bright, cheerful times and realize that God makes all the difference in my life. He is everything.
I want to start the new year of 2016 with all the wisdom I can, so I am going to read one chapter from Proverbs each day this month. December has 31 days, and Proverbs has 31 chapters. Perfect!
Join me in reading this book full of wisdom!
Proverbs 1 ~ New King James Version (NKJV)
The Beginning of Knowledge
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
4 To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
5 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Shun Evil Counsel
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,[a]
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
13 We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14 Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
16 For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
18 But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.
The Call of Wisdom
20 Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
21 She cries out in the chief concourses,[b]
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
23 Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”
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