Friday!

Proverbs!

She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.

...

When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.

Proverbs 31: 20, 26 NLT

This last part of Proverbs (v10-31) is an acrostic poem with each verse starting with the next letter from the Hebrew alphabet.

So it's a whole story, snd plucking individual ideas from it doesn't seem to match the intent of a poem.

1. It's a poem, read it as a poem.

2. It's not a weapon, a set of "shoulds", laws, or ideals, it's a poem.

3. Poems (& proverbs) invite us into something, something deeper. It's a heart thing. 

What could this poem be inviting us into?

Inviting you into?

When I read the whole poem it's a picture of shalom, of thriving, of flourishing - some things to step towards.

From a New Testament perspective we, the church, are sometimes  pictured as the bride, so maybe this poem is a pointer to how we can be as the church, God's people, in the world...

Poems are all about getting us to wonder and see what stirs in our hearts. 

We're invited to let something in, let something stir in our hearts...

#proverbs

#wisdom

#somethingtochewon 

#itsaheartthing 

#christmas

#flourishing 

#shalom