Day 363

Zechariah 14:1-21; Revelation 20:1-15; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 31:8-9

AS WE CONTINUE our journey between the holidays and prepare our lives for the beginning of a new year, we turn once again to Proverbs to guide our hearts toward resolutions that will focus the weeks and months ahead. Today, we were directed to look outward and respond:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

We likely all agree with the sentiment in this proverb —“liberty and justice for all” is a worthy motto for a people. Yet it’s also easy to agree and remain passive. The proverb isn’t simply describing a mind-set, though. It gives us actions that we are to espouse —speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, ensure justice for those being crushed, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

A proverb like this one can quickly get ambushed by the political climate of the day. Rhetoric and talking points may dominate the issues until a supercharged and volatile climate is created —which in turn obscures the fact that the counsel is not only for elected officials running governmental agencies. We are supposed to obey the voice of wisdom individually. That might certainly mean engaging in the political discourse of our time, but let’s remember, this proverb wasn’t penned last week. The issues of injustice are ancient. We’re simply living through the present iteration.

The reason this is important as we contemplate the new year is that our sense of justice shapes us. Throughout the entire Bible, we have borne witness to the erosion that takes place among a people —individually and collectively —when justice is obfuscated. Proverbs isn’t giving us a posture or sentiment. Justice is a defining characteristic of God’s people and will shape our new year, regardless of whether we ignore or engage.

Engaging will be unique for each of us. Whether we engage largely boils down to whether we’re paying attention. The Holy Spirit will certainly guide us. But ignoring justice —however we understand it —is tantamount to ignoring one of our core understandings of God —that He is just and good.

We can check out and think, God is just, and He should bring His justice to the poor and helpless, or we can embrace all that we’ve learned this year in the Bible. If the Scriptures have taught us accurately, then the Holy Spirit of the almighty God dwells within us, transforming us day by day into His image. We are indeed the hands and feet in this scenario —the flesh and bone that brings God’s blessings to the Earth. One of those blessings is that the poor and helpless are treated justly, and we have a role to play in that story in any number of ways, both big and small.

As we’ve seen countless times during the past year, Proverbs has the ability to speak the wisdom of the ages in a direct, practical, and actionable way. A profoundly helpful resolution for the new year would be to actively engage with it more intentionally. There are only thirty-one chapters in Proverbs. Each can be read in about two minutes, and with those two minutes, you could read the entire book each month. Imagine what would happen in your life if you took two extra minutes per day, along with the ongoing relationship with the Scriptures that you’ve already established this year, and poured unfiltered wisdom into your life.

WORSHIP:

Let every created thing give praise to the LORD, for he issued his command, and they came into being.