A FATHER’S GIFT
Lessons from Proverbs
By Kenneth B. Wingate
Banner of Truth. 199 pages. £7.00
ISBN 978-1-84871-050-4
This is a gem of a book based on Proverbs, initially written for Ken Wingate’s own family in the USA. It is suitable for any Christian parents or teenagers to read on their own, or together around the dining table.
In fact, any Christian wanting to gain God’s perspective on life would find it of value. Wingate’s aim is to summarise some of the key principles found in the book of Proverbs so that ‘simple words of spiritual wisdom become the foundation upon which [my own children] build their lives’ in order to gain ‘real satisfaction’. He sees Proverbs as a ‘road map for life’ (p.2), with the goal of writing a book on ‘life’s most important lessons’ (p.xiii). From the beginning he emphasises the two main paths in Scripture: the one of self-reliance leading to destruction and ruin, and the other being the path of God, of abundance and blessing. And so he focuses his book on how to attain this blessing in practical terms.
The book is divided into 19 fairly short and very readable chapters which explain how abundance and blessing can be experienced throughout the many spheres of daily life. The chapters encompass a range of topics, looking at what Proverbs teaches on wealth, friendship, speech, sexual purity, work, self control, guidance, health, parenting and spouses, to name but a few. He ends each chapter with a key principle, later listed helpfully in the appendix. Although American in style, it is refreshingly contemporary, with illustrations from the lottery to the internet, making it very accessible and relevant to today’s readers. In the final chapter Wingate states his fervent hope that ‘the reader of this book will heed our Father’s instruction’ so that ‘those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways find true abundance, both in this life and the life to come’ (p.192).
