Thanks to all of you who played along with my rewriting the old proverbs game. You came up with some great rewrites – some that were smile-worthy with a fun twist and others that had some good wisdom added.
The Bible has a whole book of proverbs full of wisdom. A good definition of a biblical proverb is “a short saying that expresses a general truth for practical, godly living.” The Hebrew word translated “proverb” comes from a root word meaning “to be like.” So, when we read through the book of Proverbs in the Bible we can find many short and succinct truths on how to live and deal with the commonplace challenges of day to day life.
These lessons of life are described in the Bible as sayings of the wise. ( Proverbs 24:23 NIV)“These also are sayings of the wise.”
Many of the proverbs give a comparison of the good versus the bad way to approach life like these quoted here.
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a hard word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1 NKJ)
A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. (Proverbs 17:22 NKJ)
Several years ago, our church did a Bible study of Proverbs. The one about a merry heart doing good was one of our favorites. Sometimes you just see the first of that verse quoted, but the second part adds to the importance of joy in our lives. I used that verse and feeling in my Heart of Hollyhill books. In Orchard of Hope, Wes felt as though he had that broken spirit after his leg was injured. In the story, he has to find his way back to the merry heart to move on in life despite the troubles he’d seen.
Here are some other very well known Proverbs that teach valuable truths.
Even a child is known by his deeds. (Proverbs 20:11 NKJ)
What we do matters and impacts our witness in the world.
Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace. (Proverbs 17:28a NKJ)
Sometimes silence is the best option.
Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17 NIV)
We learn so much as we interact with others. Encouragement, advice, and challenge can make us better.
Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble. (Proverbs 17:17 MSG)
I found this slightly different translation of this proverb in the Message Bible. I liked the truth of the importance of friends and families as we go through all the ups and downs of life.
A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet… (Proverbs 27:15 The Message)
The description in this last one made all of us in our Bible study group smile when we discussed this verse in Proverbs. Everyone knows about the irritation of a faucet that leaks drip by drip. We can work not to be that kind of drip, drip irritation to our spouses or families.
And the winners are:
The winner of my giveaway here on my Rewriting the Proverb game is Lisa Harness. I’ve sent Lisa an email but haven’t gotten a response. So, Lisa, check your emails and get in touch.
I had two winners in my January newsletter giveaway. One is Sharon B from New Mexico. She chose my book, Along a Storied Trail, as her prize. The other is Krissy C from Michigan. She picked my Hidden Springs mystery, Murder at the Courthouse.
Always fun to pick some winners and send out a few books. I’ll be doing more giveaways soon. So, stay tuned. And no, there’s no reason for the butterfly picture other than it makes me have a merry heart to think about butterflies and lilacs.
Do you have a verse from Proverbs that is a favorite?
Comments 1
8: 30-31 “I was beside Him as a master workman, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing before him always . . . and delighting in the children of man.” I love the thought of Jesus dancing (delighting) in mankind and creation at the very beginning.