Read an Excerpt
101 Most Powerful Proverbs in the Bible
By Steve Rabey Lois Rabey J. Stephan Lang Warner Faith
Copyright © 2004 J. Stephen Lang
All right reserved. ISBN: 0-446-53215-0
Chapter One
Brain Stretching and Ear Tuning The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both. Proverbs 20:12
ALL you have to do is pay attention." Thus said my scoutmaster back in Boy Scout days. Whatever we were learning- tying knots, flag signals-he firmly believed we could master it easily, so long as we paid attention to what he showed us. He told us that if we could memorize the lyrics to all the pop music hits (and we did), we could certainly learn to tie basic knots.
"All you have to do is pay attention." Thus said my college biology teacher. The class members were learning the life cycles of various forms of algae. It was neither fun nor exciting, yet he assured us the knowledge would have some value further down the line (not true), plus it "stretched the brain muscles" (so he said) to memorize the sequences of biological processes. He was right about the stretching.
Our brain muscles got a good stretching, and memorizing was not so difficult, so long as we paid attention.
Another teacher sometimes used the phrase "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." I'm referring to Jesus, who often taught in parables, the simple stories with a deep meaning that not everyone grasped. Jesus knew what any teacher knows: the learner's alertness is a crucial part of the learning process. Even the best teacher cannot force-feed the lesson. God gives us our senses, God gives us teachers, but only we ourselves can supply the openness and willingness to learn.
Proverbs is a pay-attention book. Not faraway philosophers but sensible observers of the world wrote it. They had paid attention to life-their own lives, and those of others. They were passing on their life lessons to another generation. We are still learning those lessons today, as is evident by your reading this book. Most are so basic and simple-like two plus two. And, like two plus two, those moral lessons must be retaught to every generation.
It is in the nature of man that practically no one learns from experience. The mistakes of the fathers are lost on their children. Yet the fathers, if they are doing their duties, still try to pass on their experience-won wisdom to the children. If the children will use the eyes and ears God gave them, they do well. Every teacher and parent knows a child can "tune in" his eyes and ears to what truly interests him. The message of the Book of Proverbs is Tune in to the greatest concern in human life: getting along well with others and being a person of integrity.
If a group of hyperactive eleven-year-old Boy Scouts can memorize knots and a roomful of college students can memorize the life cycle of blue-green algae, surely people of faith can (if they use their eyes and ears) learn the basic lessons about a righteous life in this world.
Nothing that difficult. "All you have to do is pay attention."
Resolution: As you go through the rest of your day, stay alert to everything around you-as if you were going to be quizzed on your whole day.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from 101 Most Powerful Proverbs in the Bible by Steve Rabey Lois Rabey J. Stephan Lang Copyright © 2004 by J. Stephen Lang. Excerpted by permission.
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