Proverbs 28

Bible Passage:  Proverbs 28

Wisdom for Salvation

Whenever I read Proverbs I feel that it is hard to remember all its precious teachings because they seem to be rather scattered. But in fact, there is a theme running through Proverbs: Wisdom for salvation.

Although Proverbs contains a lot of practical advice for our daily conduct, it’s not just a Christian living Standard Operation Procedure; it’s also a guidebook to salvation because our words and actions are all related to the salvation of our soul.

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
(Rev 20:12)

Proverbs 28 points out several things that we should follow/ aspire to do. I picked out three of them that struck me most for mutual encouragement:

Humility and Repentance

One of the things that really struck me in Proverbs 28 is the theme of repentance. Being human, we are prone to sin, even after we are baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

For this reason, we need to humble ourselves before God by acknowledging that we are not always right.

“He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Prov 28:13)

If we are aware of our weaknesses and truly reverent, we will quickly repent of our sins as soon as we are aware of it. We will not only confess our sins and ask God for forgiveness, but we will take measures to avoid committing the same sin in the future. While relying on God through prayer, we will quickly adjust our words and actions, and actively fight our weaknesses.
This is true repentance.

Contentment and Diligence

“He who hates covetousness will prolong his days.” (Prov 28:16)

Quite often we are influenced by the people around us or the media, and feel that we need more to be happy, i.e. we need a better mobile phone, nicer clothes, a better car, a bigger house, a better education for our kids, etc. But is that really the case?

Sometimes we have to weigh necessity against personal desire. Will my pursuit for a better life and more comfort affect my time spent with God and, ultimately, my faith?

Diligence and Generosity

“He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough!” (Prov 28:19)

This is a really good reminder to me to be diligent in life and faith, i.e. not only at work/ school but also in daily spiritual cultivation, and in preaching the gospel.

“He who gives to the poor will not lack,
But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.” (Prov 28:27)

Giving to the poor is an expression of compassion and selflessness because the poor will not be able to repay us.

Yet, we are often unable to give to others; we fear to be on the losing side because we are too self-centered, especially in this age of “personal freedom”. I recently realized that this concept influences even us Christians in a subtle but really powerful way: if anyone seems to restrict our personal freedom, we will have problems getting on with this person (example par excellence: parents).

However, sometimes these problems may not be problems at all—if we are willing to give up a little bit of our “self”. Think Jesus, think Calvary.