THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The Beginning of Knowledge
Day 1 of Proverbs – Try to make reading a Proverb a day a part of your daily routine
“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, and judgment, and equity; 4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. 5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: 6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 1:1-7 (KJV)
Song of Solomon 3
The Beloved aka The Groom aka Christ
The Shulamite aka The church
The Daughters of Jerusalem aka The unbelievers
The new Christian desperately seeks Jesus daily
Song of Solomon 3:1-3 (KJV), “1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. 3 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?”
Seek earnestly
Proverbs 1:20-22 (KJV), “20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?”
When you find Jesus, cling tightly to Him and encourage others to follow
Song of Solomon 3:4-5 (KJV), “4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. 5 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.”
God is your Protector, your Shield
Song of Solomon 3:6-8 (KJV), “6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? 7 Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. 8 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.”
Jesus will hold a place for you in heaven
Song of Solomon 3:9-10 (KJV), “9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. 10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.”
Amos 8
Is this where the world is coming to?
Amos 8:11-12 (KJV), “11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”
Lamentations 3
In this chapter:
Jeremiah represents the church (Israel) as Christian’s today represent our country
Our country has turned away from God in just about all aspects of our lives
Lamentations 3:7-9 (KJV), “7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. 8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. 9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.”
Christians are ridiculed when trying to bring God back
Lamentations 3:14 (KJV), “I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.”
1828 Webster’s Dictionary (DERISION, noun) – 3. An object of contempt; a laughing-stock.
Jeremiah recalls what he says in Jeremiah 29:11 in verses 22 – 26 in this Lamentation
Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV), “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Lamentations 3:22-26 (KJV), “22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”
The country has turned away from the Lord and the wicked speaks lies and deceive us. But God’s people need to pursue righteousness and continue to seek God’s intervention
Lamentations 3:37-41 (KJV), “37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? 39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? 40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.”
Proverbs 1
Read this chapter and pursue God’s wisdom daily
Jonah 3
Jonah initially fled when God told him what he needed to do in Nineveh due to his fear
Do not allow your fear hold you back from doing God’s work
Jonah 1:1-3 (KJV), “Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
As Christians, there are times God places us in situations where we are to witness or to do something we are very uncomfortable doing. But God would never put us in a position without equipping us.
You see what happened to Jonah when he refused to go to Nineveh. God put him in a dark place where he had to seek out God. God equipped Jonah then summoned him again.
Jonah 3:1-3 (KJV), “And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.”
Because Jonah then obeyed God, the people of Nineveh believed and turn away from their wicked ways
Jonah 3:10 (KJV), “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
We need to try and have that same effect on someone in our lives
Grow in the Word of the Lord 