Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 626 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails, we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 13 from The Voice Translation which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this episode is originally released, I will be in Arizona working on the construction projects that we are involved in.
We are involved in several activities as they relate to family, work, and ministry. This includes creating the Wisdom-Trek Podcast & Journal five days a week. At times it is difficult to know what to focus on because all seem important. That being said, we strive to have all of our activities aligned with our life purpose and goal of daily creating a living legacy. This is the singularity of our mindset as we explore Chapter 13 of Proverbs and our focus today will be…
Verse 1 picks back up on the theme introduced in the first 9 chapters — a wise child is attentive to his parents’ instruction. The virtue of being teachable is repeated many times through this chapter (as is mentioned in verses 1, 10, and 18). A wise child has a good attitude towards advice, but a mocker “is deaf to correction” and scoffs at his own destruction.
Notice, according to the Proverbs, that there are only two kinds of people: the righteous, wise person and the wicked fool. According to this chapter, you will know the difference by the words people use, the things they love, the way they act, and even, poetically, by their smell! (“The wicked make themselves a stench…”). It’s a pretty black-and-white view of life, and its purpose is to convince you that there is only one true, right way to live.
To top it off, take special note of verses 12 and 19, which are both about having your “dreams come true.” This fulfillment is described as a tree of life, sweetness to the soul, and an “inheritance for your grandchildren.” This kind of life is only available to the right living.
As I read through this chapter, use verses 1, 10, and 18 as pit stops along the way. Ask yourself how teachable you have been lately. How might you better fall in line with the way of right living?
