Day 197: Prov 10:32 - 13:25

It's interesting to not the similarities and differences between these passages and the books of the Bible such as Leviticus. These books were both written by the Holy Spirit through the hands of men. They were both written to large groups of people to instruct them on how to live properly. And yet whereas one book gives me the feeling of oppression and legality, the other seems to speak directly to my heart and open up the world to all kinds of new concepts that I would not have normally considered. I think a problem that the church deals with so often is the tendency to preach rules rather than concepts and principles. The book of Proverbs says so many things that might be considered rules, yet the spirit behind the entire book is to communicate strong Biblical principles that we can use in every aspect of our lives. God doesn't want us to memorize a bunch of rules and regulations in order to live blessed lives, He wants us to get a revelation of His principles so that we can naturally make the right decisions based on what we know deep down is right.

- Father, help me to not just memorize a bunch of rules, but help me to store the concepts and principles of Your Word deep down in my heart so when faced with difficult situations, I can dig deep and remember exactly what Your Word says about me and how I should handle myself! -