Beauty!

God is beautiful, he is Beauty himself. Oh how has that truth changed my whole weekend. His creation is a reflection of him: flowers, sunsent, women, snow, the sky, the space, etc. We as humans try to express this in art, music, poetry and so many different ways. My heart is filled with beauty tonight.

Day 31 - A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds.

Ok. I made it! 31 days, 31 chapters. What an awesome experience. Still so fast I think. Definitely it was worth making it through the first 9 days to get to all the practical stuff from chapter 10 and on. Definitely awesome sayings from Salomon and his friends! So here it is Proverbs 31 from The Message version and the highlights (my favorite verses and maybe some comments)

If all leader's moms were like this:

¹The words of King Lemuel, the strong advice his mother gave him:

^2-3 "Oh, son of mine, what can you be thinking of!
Child whom I bore! The son I dedicated to God!
Don't dissipate your virility on fortune-hunting women,
promiscuous women who shipwreck leaders.

"Leaders can't afford to make fools of themselves,
gulping wine and swilling beer,
Lest, hung over, they don't know right from wrong,
and the people who depend on them are hurt.
Use wine and beer only as sedatives,
to kill the pain and dull the ache
Of the terminally ill,
for whom life is a living death.

"Speak up for the people who have no voice,
for the rights of all the down-and-outers.
Speak out for justice!
Stand up for the poor and destitute!"

-----

Hymn to a Good Wife

Ok. So now living in Sweden where equality is a big word the rest of the chapter you can say it is a very old school perspective of what a great woman is; that's how roles were seen before. Putting it in context with today's men and women roles, especially in the house, you can just say that this is a smart, talented, hard worker and family oriented woman, one has more to show than what meets the eye. The opening and closing statement are just great and a good thing to keep in mind for all of us men:

A good woman is hard to find,
and worth far more than diamonds.

Give her everything she deserves!
Festoon her life with praises!

Day 30 - Don't imagine yourself to be quite presentable when you haven't had a bath in weeks.

It's quite hard to picture this but it has been 30 days I've been reading a chapter every day and blogging about it. Tomorrow is the last day and today's chapter is not less better than any of the previous ones. This chapter touches on a lot of topics but for the first one comes to my mind how this book started "Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning." Proverbs 1 MSG

I have to share this whole section with you:

The Words of Agur Ben Yakeh

God? Who Needs Him?

^1-2 The skeptic swore, "There is no God! No God!—I can do anything I want!
I'm more animal than human;
so-called human intelligence escapes me.

^3-4 "I flunked 'wisdom.'
I see no evidence of a holy God.
Has anyone ever seen Anyone
climb into Heaven and take charge?
grab the winds and control them?
gather the rains in his bucket?
stake out the ends of the earth?
Just tell me his name, tell me the names of his sons.
Come on now—tell me!"

^5-6 The believer replied, "Every promise of God proves true;
he protects everyone who runs to him for help.
So don't second-guess him;
he might take you to task and show up your lies."

^7-9 And then he prayed, "God, I'm asking for two things
before I die; don't refuse me—
Banish lies from my lips
and liars from my presence.
Give me enough food to live on,
neither too much nor too little.
If I'm too full, I might get independent,
saying, 'God? Who needs him?'
If I'm poor, I might steal
and dishonor the name of my God."

I have to specifically comment on verses 5-6. I have no other way to express my faith in God, the God the Bible talks about, but as it has become something personal to me. I have taken "steps of faith", I have trusted God to come through for me in key areas of my life like jobs and this opportunity of education abroad I am experiencing now, and he has proved to be faithful. How? We'll have to talk more about it. You just have to take the first step and decide to start following God, like Jesus said to his candidate disciples "follow me". Once you start following God consciously then he'll reveal more of himself to you. Why would he do other wise? Does he needs us? haha. So in the end I believe, like Salomon and Agur -the guy wrote this chapter- say: wisdoms starts recognizing there's a God.

Here are more awesome sayings from Agur:

Don't blow the whistle on your fellow workers
behind their backs;
They'll accuse you of being underhanded,
and then you'll be the guilty one!

Don't curse your father
or fail to bless your mother.

Don't imagine yourself to be quite presentable
when you haven't had a bath in weeks.

Don't be stuck-up
and think you're better than everyone else.

Day 29 - If you think you know it all, you're a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.

Ok, so yesterday I skipped chapter 28 by mistake. I'm doing it today. So here it is awesome saying from Proverbs chapter 28! The Message version as usual! :)

When the country is in chaos,
everybody has a plan to fix it—
But it takes a leader of real understanding
to straighten things out.

Get as rich as you want
through cheating and extortion,
But eventually some friend of the poor
is going to give it all back to them.

God has no use for the prayers
of the people who won't listen to him.

Among leaders who lack insight, abuse abounds,
but for one who hates corruption, the future is bright.

Work your garden—you'll end up with plenty of food;
play and party—you'll end up with an empty plate.

Committed and persistent work pays off;
get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs.

In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated
far more than bootlicking flattery.

If you think you know it all, you're a fool for sure;
real survivors learn wisdom from others.

Be generous to the poor—you'll never go hungry;
shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses.

When corruption takes over, good people go underground,
but when the crooks are thrown out, it's safe to come out

Day 28 - Pride lands you flat on your face; humility prepares you for honors.

Day 29 - Proverbs 29! The Message version :)

For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn,
There'll come a day when life tumbles in and they break,
but by then it'll be too late to help them.

When good people run things, everyone is glad,
but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans.

The good-hearted understand what it's like to be poor;
the hardhearted haven't the faintest idea.

Leadership gains authority and respect
when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.

It takes more than talk to keep workers in line;
mere words go in one ear and out the other.

Observe the people who always talk before they think—
even simpletons are better off than they are.

If you let people treat you like a doormat,
you'll be quite forgotten in the end.

Pride lands you flat on your face;
humility prepares you for honors.

The fear of human opinion disables;
trusting in God protects you from that.

Good people can't stand the sight of deliberate evil;
the wicked can't stand the sight of well-chosen goodness.