Proverbs 15: 12-24

¹²A scoffer does not love one who reproves him,
He will not go to the wise.
¹³A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.
¹⁴The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge,
But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.
¹⁵All the days of the afflicted are bad,
But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
¹⁶Better is a little with the fear of the LORD
Than great treasure and turmoil with it.
¹⁷Better is a dish of vegetables where love is
Than a fattened ox served with hatred.
¹⁸A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
But the slow to anger calms a dispute.
¹⁹The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns,
But the path of the upright is a highway.
²⁰A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.
²¹Folly is joy to him who lacks sense,
But a man of understanding walks straight.
²²Without consultation, plans are frustrated,
But with many counselors they succeed.
²³A man has joy in an apt answer,
And how delightful is a timely word!
²⁴The path of life leads upward for the wise
That he may keep away from Sheol below.

Today's Thought Question:

1. What proverb in today's passage spoke to you and why?

Verse 17: "Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred."


I saw "dish of vegetables" and just had to pause for a few moments. Call it a dish of veggies or a bowl of herbs, as is used in other translations--the green side dish--served with love, it's better than eating the choicest of dinners surrounded by hate. Having just spent more than a week with my folks, my three sisters and their families, I can tell you that we had a lot of love around our table! Did we always have the best food? Well, we tried. Definitely nothing like a fattened ox!

Have you ever been to a dinner at one of "those" places with folks who would have given you an eye's worth of attention and probably more for the faux pas of letting a piece of wilted lettuce fall off the fork and just off the plate, too. Follow that up with some mocking, satirical conversation mixed with a general lack of interest in who you are. Woo-hoo.... I'll take the check for the lettuce and a dose of the latest antacid, please!

Some of the nicest times I've spent with people have been over the simplest things--chicken wings with my hubby; an ice cream cone or homemade cookies with my daughters; a cup of coffee with a friend. What Solomon is getting at, of course, is that it's not about the food at all--it's about the relationship.

Perhaps this is why Jesus chose such simple elements--bread and wine--to explain to His disciples how much He loved them. The Passover meal was a tradition. Jesus had more in mind when He broke the bread for the dinner that particular evening. It was about the relationship...and our relationship! It was about unconditional love.

The story of the prodigal son features the best of both--delicious meal with the best food and an unfathomable love of a father for his son. It was all about the relationship (but I'm sure the food was amazing, too!).

Very quickly, verse 23, "A man has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a timely word!" I know the truth of this. I have seen how the right words fill a moment as nothing else can--whether it's answering a question, or responding with wise advice, even if the words aren't spoken but merely implied.

Sometimes, I wish I always had the "apt" answer. Actually, I do wish I had the right answer all the time. But, I have learned that sometimes the right answer is not for me to give, even if it is right. Sometimes, it's for someone else to give. That isn't something that I have learned easily. I can pull up a bunch of references to pride and point right back at myself. But, God has shown me, and continues to show me, that it's more than just having an answer, or a right answer. Timeliness and appropriateness, God-given direction, all fall into "apt."




Photo: http://www.gourmetfoodappetizers.com/images/Omaha/Vegetables/Mixed_Vegetables_side_dish.jpg

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Tomorrow's Scripture Focus and Thought Question:

Proverbs 15: 25-33

1. What proverb in today's passage spoke to you and why?
   

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Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation, specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB). I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (with notes from the King James Version).