December 8, 2015

Its been a few months since my last Proverbs post, but here we are going to pick up with chapter twelve.  Now if you aren’t familiar with Proverbs, this particular book in the Bible is one of my favorites.  As you read the passages in the book, it is so clearly laid out what the Lord thinks and what He expects you and I to do.  Talking about wisdom, foolishness, wickedness, and knowledge, it shows what the circumstances are and what the outcome will be if we act one way or another.

The few key words and phrases that stood out to me in this chapter, were learn, plan, work, and build each other up.  The very first verse in the chapter is a great one, To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.  Right off the bat, it talks about learning from discipline and building each other up comes from discipline, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have parents that loved me enough to get on to me.

Verse 11 and 14, A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.  Wise words bring many benefits, and hard work brings rewards.  Times have changed and generations have changed, but the great thing is, that the Word of God will never change.  Work isn’t as important to people now days, feeling entitled to anything and everything and expecting just to be handed whatever you need.  But people need to wake up, God does not like lazy people.  Verse 24, Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.  A slave to who?  Because the only person that I ever want to be a slave for, is Jesus Christ, not my boss, not my current employer, no one.

The last two verses that really stood out are verses 25 and 26, Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.  The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.  That is our job as Christians, to love and lift people up.  You don’t know what that person is going through in life, your words could be life changing and even life saving.

This verse was brought up in the service at church the other day, James 1:5, If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.  I know that I need more wisdom, wisdom that will give me knowledge and understanding of the Bible and of Jesus Christ, and I pray each and every day that the Holy Spirit will fill me up and prepare me for the day to come.