Contemplative Bible Reading

Proverbs 11:24-25 (New Living Translation) 24 Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. 25 The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. We live in the sharing economy. Wikipedia is the world’s source of all knowledge. It costs nothing. It was and is being written by volunteers […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 11:19 (New Living Translation) Godly people find life; evil people find death. Life and death. In the final reckoning, what else is there? This chapter runs through a number of ways to say this, but this is the summary. Do what God wants us to do, and good will come back to us. Ignore […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 6:16-19 (New Living Translation) 16 There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, 19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 6:16-19 (New Living Translation) 16 There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, 19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 15:29 (New Living Translation) The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous. What a curse. Does God hear the prayers of the wicked? Does God only hear the prayers of the righteous? I believe God hears the prayers of all who call on the name of the […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 17:9 Holman Christian Standard Bible Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends. How do I react when someone offends me or offends another in front of me or simply makes a bad mistake that affects me?  (I can go on quite a while here, but this will suffice) […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 17:8 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner; wherever he turns, he succeeds. Magic stones. I want some magic stones. When I was in graduate school, I often wished for an extra day between Monday and Tuesday. Just like magic I would be able to sleep, eat, […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 7:2a (New Living Translation) Obey my commands and live! We Americans in the post-post-whatever-modern world don’t like COMMANDS. Don’t tell us what to do. We know what to do. We are our own commanders of our own fate, so stop this commands even those that come from God. Let’s step back for a moment, […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 6a, 13 (New Living Translation) Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech. I hate negative preaching (that doesn’t make sense, but let’s go on). Nevertheless, there are times when I need to […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 17:9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends. Offenses are committed daily. Some persons seem to offend others all the time. What is a good Christian to do? I can gossip about the offense, i.e., I can sort of tell the truth of about […]

[Read more →]