The Complete Story Of PROVERBS Like You've Never Seen It Before.

What if I told you that right now you have a book in your Bible that was never meant to be read once and filed away? A book created specifically to be lived line by line, decision by decision for the rest of your life. It's not a book of pretty phrases, nor a collection of fortune cookie wisdom

. It's a book that clearly tells you how to manage your money, your temper, your marriage, your friendships, your mouth, your ambition, and your relationship with God, and it tells you exactly what happens if you ignore it. That is the book of Proverbs. And we're not going to look at it tonight. Let's go through it

slowly and honestly, letting it really ask us the questions it asks instead of letting it politely sit on a shelf like good advice that we nod at and forget in the morning. Tradition holds that much of this book comes from King Solomon , a man who did not ask God for wealth, fame, or power when he had the

opportunity to ask for anything. He asked for wisdom to guide his people well. And because that request pleased God, Solomon was given an understanding unmatched by anyone before or after him. Kings from distant nations traveled for weeks just to sit in his presence and test him with difficult questions, and they left saying they hadn't believed the

reports until they saw them for themselves. Proverbs is a window into that gift, but it is also, if we are honest, a window into what happens when a wise man finally stops living according to his own wisdom. Solomon wrote these words. Solomon, too, later in his life, did not fully comply with them. It's worth

reflecting on that tension as we move forward tonight because it tells us something we need to hear before we go on. Wisdom is not a possession that is earned once and then carried safely with you forever. It is a path that must be followed every day for the rest of one's life. And you can know all the