Briefing: Do you remember being in training as a new officer? Did your training officer teach you anything? I learned how to do police work and how not to do police work during my training.

Dispatch (Assignment): Read Proverbs chapter 3. Even though Solomon is passing wisdom down to his son, look at it as the field training officer passing wisdom down to his/her rookie.

On the Street: My first field training officer told me, “Forget everything you learned in the academy, I’m going to teach you how to be a cop”. I found this statement to be common among training officers. Solomon would not have told his rookie to forget all he learned in the academy, he would have told the trainee to build on what they had been taught and gain wisdom and discipline. Solomon says to not only remember what you have learned but to keep it in your heart. In other words, be passionate about what you have learned and be passionate about pursuing wisdom.

Solomon tells us some information I bet rookie police officers never get told, “let love and faithfulness never leave you”. Loving people was never mentioned in my police academy or in any training I received. Why? Were you ever told, “Don’t get too involved, you might get hurt”? Not hurt physically but emotionally. Law enforcement officers tend to be calloused and hard hearted. This is a defense mechanism that keeps us from feeling any emotional pain from the job. This is contrary to our calling. We are called to love. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 says that without love we are nothing. This is most important, otherwise Solomon would not have chosen it to be the first item on his list.

The next topic after love is faithfulness. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is one of the big three mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. Solomon taught his son this long before Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. Solomon is a wise teacher and one that deserves our attention. Treat the rest of Proverbs as a training manual. The benefits are far greater than any law enforcement training or seminar you could ever attend.

Love and faith are so important that Solomon says that we should bind them around our neck and write them on our heart. The benefits of these are favor and a good name with man and God. Who doesn’t want to win favor with God and man?

Highlights from the Read: Verse one speaks to keeping the commands in your heart. This equates to having passion about the commands. How many officers or agents do you know that have lost passion for the job? How hard is it to be good at something you are not passionate about? It is possible, just hard.

Investigational Resources: Job 12:12-13, Proverbs 14:16, Ephesians 4:11-13, 9-13-18, 1 Corinthians 13 is the love chapter.

Officer Safety Principle: Love and faith are pillars of Christian life just like law and officer safety are pillars of Law Enforcement.

from The Book of Proverbs Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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