Give Me Just Enough, Lord!

Wisdom.  Do you ever feel like you need more wisdom and understanding? Perhaps you have a big decision that you need to make and you really don't know what to do.  Maybe you, like me, just need guidance and direction to help you navigate through the "shark infested waters" present in normal, day-to-day life.

If you can relate to that, well, I've got great news for you.  The Good Book says the following:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  James 1:5 (NASB)

All you have to do is ask!  As a family, we've started a new practice that we've incorporated into our daily lives to gain that wisdom that He gives.  It is a cool idea that I wish we would have done a long time ago.  Each night, we sit down at the supper table and thank God for His Provision.  We talk about what has gone on during the day and enjoy each other's company.  We've always done that.

But here is the new wrinkle that we added.  At the end of the meal, we pull out the Bible and turn to Proverbs.  It is a great Book - full of values, morals, and standards of right living.  It was written primarily by King Solomon.  You'll remember God told him that he could have whatever he wanted. Instead of asking for riches, revenge over his enemies, honor or long life, Solomon asked for wisdom. As a result God gave him all of the above!

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So here's what we do.  Proverbs has 31 chapters.  There is a chapter for every day of the month.  Each day we read one chapter.  Yesterday was December 21st so we read Proverbs 21.  We divide the total number of verses by the number of people eating with us - so it keeps our mathematics skills sharp, too!  Then each person reads their allocated verses.  We read them slow, because there is so much wisdom to be gleaned.  We repeat those that are particularly noteworthy and ruminate about them a little bit.

Some of them are even funny!:

It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Proverbs 21:9

A constant dripping on a day of steady rain And a contentious woman are alike.  Proverbs 27:15

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Some of the Proverbs are just loaded with great advice.  Take this one for example:

8 Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
9 That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.  Proverbs 30:8-9 (NASB)

Give me just enough, LORD, the Proverbs asks.  Too little can be hard and too much can be ruinous. Our intention is to keep this going each day, reading over and over and over wisdom that will help us and sustain us throughout all the days of our lives.  Our aim is to leave the supper table filled with nutritious food, but also filled with wisdom.  Eating good meals and devouring wisdom as well. You are what you eat, you know?  I know I want to have a continual feast!:

All the days of the afflicted are bad, But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.  Proverbs 15:15