Proverbs 3:27–35
The Bible4Jesus.com Podcast
About this episode
It is the underlying grammar of all reality, and it has teeth. Specifically, it makes demands on your calendar, your checkbook, and your behavior in the cul-de-sac. We live in an age that loves grand, sweeping gestures of compassion, usually performed with other people's money and for the benefit of television cameras. But the book of Proverbs is not interested in your sentimental humanitarianism. It wants to know if you returned your neighbor's lawnmower when you said you would. It is not in the prayer closet alone, but in the marketplace. It is not just in what you say you believe about the Trinity, but in how you treat the man who lives next door. Your love for the invisible God is demonstrated and proven by your practical, tangible dealings with your visible neighbor. The passage before us is a series of sharp, practical commands that function as a spiritual diagnostic tool.