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Let’s begin by reading Proverbs 3:1-20:

Proverbs 3:1-20 - My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, ² for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. ⁸ This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. ⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. ¹¹ My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, ¹² because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. ¹³ Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, ¹⁴ for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. ¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. ¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. ¹⁷ Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. ¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed. ¹⁹ By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; ²⁰ by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.

I have a confession to make – Proverbs has historically been one of my least favorite books of the Bible. I am a person who enjoys mystery and uncertainty, and I struggle sometimes with what seems to be like the black and white view of life often described in Proverbs. See v. 9, for example – is it true that everyone who tithes will experience financial prosperity? Of course not. For this reason, I have often struggled with this book.

However, I have a high value when it comes to reading the Bible, and that is the more I do not understand or even like a book or aspect of the Bible, the more I want to read it, because I realize that it probably has a lot to teach me about something I am lacking. Think of God’s wrath – many are appalled by it, but the more you understand it, the more you realize that this aspect of his character means the most to oppressed people who need to know that God is a God of justice who will punish evil in the end. But for those of us who live comfortable lives, that side of God makes us squeamish.