A Sinful Man, A Foolish Man, And A Wise Man

INTRO.- ILL.- You know its going to be a bad day ahead when...

- You wake up face down on the pavement.

- You call suicide prevention and they put you on hold.

- Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.

- You want to put on the clothes you wore home from the party and there aren’t any.

- You turn on the news and they are showing escape routes out of the city.

- You wake up to realize your waterbed broke and then discover you don’t have a waterbed.

- Your horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell’s Angels on the freeway.

- You call your answering service and they tell you it’s none of your business.

- Your income tax check bounces.

- You put both contacts in one eye.

ILL.- A police officer in a small town stopped a motorist who was speeding down Main Street. "But officer," the man began, "I can explain."

"Just be quiet," snapped the officer. "I’m going to let you cool your heels in jail until the chief gets back."

"But, officer, I just wanted to say,..."

"And I said to keep quiet! You’re going to jail!"

A few hours later the officer looked in on his prisoner and said, "Lucky for you that the chief’s at his daughter’s wedding. He’ll be in a good mood when he gets back."

"Don’t count on it," answered the fellow in the cell. "I’m the groom."

That groom was having a bad day but he wasn’t the only one. And we all have both good days and bad days.

ILL.- My little 3-year-old grandson, Caleb Santasiere, sings the lyrics to Daniel Powter’s song, Bad Day.

’Cause you had a bad day, you’re taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don’t know, you tell me don’t lie

You work on a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day, the camera don’t lie

You’re comin’ back down and you really don’t mind

You had a bad day... you had a bad day

Brothers and sisters, we ALL can have bad days. Some of these bad days may be determined or influenced by our associations, our chums, our friends, etc.

I Cor. 15:33 “Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Sometimes our friends are not true friends.

ILL.- A little boy asked his mother if he could go out and play with Timmy. “You know you don’t like Timmy,” his mother said. “All right,” replied the youngster, “then can I go out and fight with him?”

Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Do our chums sharpen us spiritually or make us dull spiritually?

Mark 1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Jesus had a good friend, a holy friend. Consequently, it was much easier for Him to have a good day every day. When you are in touch with the God of heaven, the Creator of the universe, you are more likely to have good days and be a good person.

PROP.- Our text in Proverbs tells about three different men. A sinful man, a foolish man and a wise man.

I. A SINFUL MAN

Prov. 29:6 “An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad.”

An evil man is snared, trapped, or corralled by his own sin. Sin has a way of coming back to bite you, doesn’t it?

ILL.- Police had no trouble at all tracking down the burglar who ransacked a house in Pelham, New Hampshire. The burglar came by automobile and, in backing the car to leave, rammed a snow bank. The license plate left a perfect imprint in the snow.

ILL.- Something similar happened, only far worse, on Friday, November 10th, in Denver, CO. Perhaps you heard about it, read about it or saw it on TV. The whole Frank Bingham family was run down by a drunk driver. Frank (41 yrs) and his wife, Becca (39 yrs), and their two children, Macie (4 yrs) and Garrison (2 yrs), were run down. His wife and two children were killed. Only Frank survived.

The man who ran them down probably didn’t mean to do it, but apparently, he was drunk. It was “hit and run,” however. He left the scene of the accident. And the police caught the man the next morning because his license plate had fallen off during the hit and run, and of course, this led the police right to his front door.

What can be learned from this man? Don’t drink and drive. I’m not much in favor of any kind of drinking, however.