It has been stated that a person should study the book of Proverbs if he or she wants to be wise. Accordingly, the book of Proverbs has been organized into thirty-one different chapters. That means that a person can read a chapter in the book each day based upon the numerical date of the month. For example, on the first day of the month, one would read the first chapter in the book of Proverbs. On the second day of the month, he or she would read the second chapter. If a person were to do that for an entire year, then he or she would read the whole book of Proverbs twelve times every year minus a few chapters for those months with fewer than thirty-one days.
So the organization of the devotions in this text has followed the same pattern as how one might read the book of Proverbs for themselves. In other words, on the first day of each month, this text will have a short devotion on two or three verses from only the first chapter of the book of Proverbs. On the second day of each month, this text will have a short devotion on two or three verses from only the second chapter of the book of Proverbs. That format has been used throughout this text. Writing this text according to that structure seemed better than just going through each chapter in verse-by-verse order.
Now before concluding this Introduction, there is still one more important thing to share. It is that from a spiritual perspective, one might say that all people can be divided into the three groupings of J-O-Y, Y-O-J, or just Y. That being the case, it is the belief of this author that the most content and most satisfied people in all the world are the J-O-Y's. The least content and least satisfied are the Y-O-J's. The unhappiest and most miserable individuals are the Y's. So who are the J-O-Y's, the Y-O-J's, and the Y's? They are the individuals whom Jesus identified in Matthew 22:37-39. Those verses say, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
So based upon those verses, the letter "J" stands for Jesus. The letter "O" stands for others. The letter "Y" stands for yourself. So putting it all together, the most content, most satisfied people in this world are those who consistently put Jesus first, others second, and themselves last (J-O-Y). For example, the medical report is not so good. J-O-Y. The car breaks down. J-O-Y. This is not a really great day. J-O-Y. I did not want that to happen. J-O-Y. But the unhappiest and most miserable individuals in this world are the Y-O-J's and the Y's because they consistently put themselves before everyone else and everything else. So this devotion book has been written to try to daily encourage everyone to be a J-O-Y. That means that a good response to every situation in life is J-O-Y no matter how unpleasant the circumstance. However, the letter "J" means more than just to put the Lord first in one's heart and life. It is also a reminder that the Lord is in total control of everything. Nothing in this life happens either by accident or outside of His providential Will. When one remembers that, then even the most negative things in this life are less negative. That is not brainwashing or positive thinking. It is simply Bible truth.
