Bible Reading #173 - Be Prudent

Be Prudent

Wise Words

Proverbs 14

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 8) "The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception." (v. 15) "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." (v. 18) "The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge."

My Thoughts

Before we begin, what does 'prudent' mean? Prudent means to think about the future with your actions. I asked because one, you don't hear (or in this case, see) that word often and two, because it makes me think of the word 'prude'. A prude is someone who is easily surprised by matters relating to sex. Two very different words, but similar.

The main theme of these verses is to think about the future. This means that we should think about how our actions and our choices are going to affect our future. Obviously we can't always know exactly what is going to happen. Using common sense, you know that you will likely lose your job if you choose not to show up.

Even for more complex things, you just have to think about it. If it's hard to, you can try breaking it down to make it a series of simple things. This is what we should be doing, but we won't always do this. Yes, it is important, but I can't say that I think about everything before actually doing it.

We can't always plan out everything because plans don't always go the way you want them to go. Even so, we can still think now about the wise choices we make so that we can have a better future. You can choose long beforehand to not go out drinking often or not to smoke or not to quit your job. Then stick to it. Other situations may require on-the-spot thinking. The wisdom you gain now will help you then.

For us to think about the future, we cannot live in the past. What happened happened, and that's all there is to it. You can't dwell on what happened yesterday. I'm not saying to forget, not care and move on. You can remember it, but you shouldn't have any regrets. If you made a mistake and you feel guilty when you think back to it, then you need to forgive yourself and learn from that mistake. If it is something that happened to you, then again, you need to offer forgiveness.

If we don't deal with the past, we dwell on it. If we dwell on the past, we can't move forward. So deal with your past, learn from it and make wiser choices in the future, for your future. You can start now to make your future better.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!