The theme, the thesis and the warning of the book is found right at the beginning, in Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The rest of the book is an expansion of this theme. Those who fear the Lord will humbly read this book. Those who don't fear the Lord live their lives without it. It is humility that keeps a man or a woman reading and rereading this book. Those who realize they are fools in need of wisdom will run to feed from its pages. Those who realize they are paupers will revel in the gold found within the pages of the proverbs. Whoever memorizes and lives by the proverbs will gain a deep understanding of life and people and will avoid the many hardships and heartaches that foolishness brings. This little book that I have written, which contains 101 proverbs in total, is only a small sample from the rich reservoir of wisdom that is ours to draw from.
