The Bible could be a medicine cabinet. The Psalms could be an ointment that you apply to inflamed skin to soothe and heal it. Proverbs could be described as aromatic salts that will get you going and keep you awake.
Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller have created “The Wisdom of God To Walk Through Life“, a devotional that focuses on God.
They share indicators for studying the book of Proverbs from the beginning:
Poetry (full with parallels between phrases and vivid images, metaphors, and other elements), as pedagogy (teaching these lessons both to men and women in a group, guided by mentors),
They recommend that you take a series steps to help your group read the devotionals.
Meet with your friend or the group of people you wish to read it with. Share ideas, discuss them, and encourage each other to use the teachings.
Proverbs is a part of the whole Bible. By making Proverbs feel like a chapter in an even larger book, Tim Keller and Kathy Keller want to help us see the Gospel. They also hope to open our minds so that we can understand why “an absolute prerequisite to wisdom is a live relationship.” It is vital to God that Jesus Christ is Wisdom “and that faith in Jesus Christ can bring about the relationship with God that Proverbs calls “vital”.
It’s interesting to see how the proverbs are grouped in topics that allow you to read devotionals by groups or ideas on a particular topic.
January 1 – February 7,
February 8-March 23
March 24-June 12,
June 13 – August 10
September 11-September 3
September 4th – December 14
December 15-December 31
Timothy Keller was raised in Pennsylvania and attended Bucknell University and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He was first a pastor in Hopewell (Virginia). He and his wife Kathy, as well as their three children, founded the Redeemer Presbyterian Church of Manhattan in 1989. Redeemer today has over 5,000 people attending Sunday services, plus members of more 100 new congregations all around the globe. He is also the author and New York Times bestseller The Prodigal God. He lives with his family in New York.
Kathy, Tim’s spouse, earned her theological studies graduate degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She also co-authored The Meaning of Marriage (with Tim) and The Songs of Jesus.
