1. Who is Wise?
Reading: Proverbs 30:24-28
“Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise.”
We are collectors at our house: Paperweights, bells, and salt cellars, among other things. Solomon was a collector, too, but he gathered together something easier to pack and move. He collected Proverbs. Toward the end of his anthology we find the little gem we have read today.
This section is a part of the numerical Proverbs which were probably a device for easier memorization by students. My seventh grade class was required to memorize the 88 counties of Ohio in alphabetical order. It was much easier to do this when one knew that there were six A's, three B's, and so forth. This Proverb writer uses the numbers three and four to remind us of certain truths.
There is a lesson for us. Even the smallest of God's creatures are wise in their own way. We who assume we have superior intelligence can learn from them.
The British veterinarian whom we know as James Herriott wrote several books about a variety of domestic animals for which he cared over the years. As we think together this week about God's great and small creatures, your assignment is to consider the lessons you have learned from the animals in your life.
For Reflection: What animal has taught me the most.
A Prayer Seed:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848
