Proverbs

Someone asked how to read and reflect on Proverbs.

Great question

Proverbs is very unique in this way. It is the only book in the Bible quite like it from beginning to end with verse after verse of individual sayings.

The short answer is just pick one verse and chew on it. Share what this means in your own life.

A bit more on this will be helpful too. Follow any discussion about Proverbs, and you’ll notice examples in the ways others read and reflect on Proverbs. We notice that anyone talking about Proverbs will usually spend a few minutes and only talk about a couple verses. This is why we can see the value of going through Proverbs every single month as a default discipline running in the background of our lives in the WORD.

There are many ways and creative ideas for doing this, and a few will be shared here. You will have others, and others will be able to share their own ideas on this too.

For example, you’ll notice how brothers will sometimes focus at least part of their discussion on a few verses scattered throughout the chapter which all relate to a particular topic. That’s one way you can focus on something that stands out to you in a chapter. Another similar way is focusing on a particular word that stands out in one or in a number of verses.

There are many creative ways of reflecting on Proverbs also. Sometimes, a journey through Proverbs, even for that whole month, can be focused daily on the same number verse for the whole month. You will notice that all the first verses in all the chapters in Proverbs are especially poignant so you could pick the first verse. Or if someone else you are reading with has already commented on the first verse, you may want to pick the verse that matches the hour of the day when you are looking at it, or the year (23). These are all great ways just to pick a verse or a thought, an insight or a powerful truth to focus on and share together for that day.

Proverbs group studies which include daily posts will also provide reflective thoughts, not only for us to receive but also for further reflection and especially for daily action and application.

Share a story that comes to mind from reading the whole chapter or something from your life experience which brings a proverb to life.

Someone said that Proverbs are life lessons boiled down into one saying, while parables are life lessons explained in story form.

Tell a story. Tell a paroimia. [Ask what that is, and you may be richly rewarded.] Tell a classic story or a parable. Connect a proverb to an obscure passage in Zephaniah or Ezekiel.

These are a few ways to read and mull over, reflect on Proverbs.

What are the ways you read Proverbs? Brothers, share your story, share your thoughts and reflections. And let the LORD work deeply in our hearts by His powerful WORD.