PROVERBIAL WISDOM
INTRO.- Proverbial wisdom. I want to share some of God’s wisdom from the book of Proverbs, but first let me share some good quips and quotes or words of wisdom from man.
- It’s all right to be dumb, but it’s stupid to make a career out of it.
- Ignorance is not the problem. It is not knowing when we are ignorant that causes the difficulty.
- Some girls can’t take a joke, but others prefer one to no husband at all.
- Any man who correctly guesses a woman’s age may be smart - but he’s not very bright.
- When a man sees eye-to-eye with his wife, it’s a sure indication that his vision has been corrected.
- A woman’s work is never done, especially if she asks her husband to do it.
- A henpecked husband washes the dishes - even when they use paper plates.
- A bath mat is a little rug that children like to stand beside.
- When you see some people work, you wonder what they’ll do when they retire!
- The best cure for a short temper is a lengthened prayer life.
- A gossip is one who can turn an earful into a mouthful.
- The trouble with square meals is that they make you round.
- A hair in the head is worth two in the brush.
- It would be a lot easier to lose weight and keep it off it the replacement parts weren’t so available in the refrigerator.
- The man who rolls up his sleeves seldom loses his shirt.
- When your education is finished, you are.
- In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he’s a wonder.
- Teenage boys will drive anything - except a lawnmower.
- It’s surprising how often people will agree with you if you just keep your mouth shut.
- An old southern gentleman has a simple philosophy. Fill what’s empty, empty what’s full, and scratch where it itches.
- Many people carefully avoid discovering the secret of success because deep down they suspect the secret may be hard work.
- Any man who knows all the answers most likely misunderstood the questions.
- Unless you have never been tempted, don’t pass judgment on someone who has yielded.
- Many people think they have an open mind, when it’s really their mouth.
- Many people are not exactly stingy - they’re just economical in a very obnoxious way.
PROP.- There is all kind of wisdom being dished out in this world and by this world. But the greatest and best wisdom available comes from God and His Word.
I. HARD WORK
Prov. 14:23 “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
ILL.- Employer to Job seeker: How long did you work at your other job?
Job seeker: Fifty-five years.
Employer: How old are you?
Job seeker: Forty-five years old.
Employer: How could you work 55 years when you are only 45 years old?
Job seeker: Overtime.
The sad truth is many people are not interested in working overtime and some are not interested in working any time!
II Thess. 3:6-10 “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’”
That was a rule from God through the apostle Paul given to Christians in his day, but it is not a rule followed by all people today.
DID YOU KNOW THAT LAZINESS CAN KILL YOU?
ILL.- I read an article last week entitled, “Lazy Lifestyle Can Fry Couch Potatoes.” Health Group Warns of the Rising Toll of ’Sedentary Death Syndrome’ May 29, 2001 (Washington) -- Warning: Doing nothing could be hazardous to your health. Laziness can be hazardous to your health.
In fact, according to a group of health experts, if all you do is sit around without getting much physical activity, your lifestyle could actually kill you, by creating a condition they’re calling sedentary death syndrome, or SeDS.
"Physical inactivity, which can start during childhood, can lead to a wide range of diseases that, coupled with a poor diet, kill a quarter-million people every year, " says Frank Booth, PhD, a physiology professor at the University of Missouri in Columbia and founder of the group Researchers Against SeDS. It’s estimated that conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease are all on the increase because of SeDS.
Use it or lose it. Use your body or lose it. Work at your job or lose it.
ILL. - It is said that each day across the USA 50,000 people quit their jobs. In a recent survey of workers across the USA, nearly 85% said that they could work harder of the job. More than half claimed they could double their effectiveness "if (they) wanted to."
ILL.- Henry Ford once told the purpose behind the first automobile. He said, “When we were building our first car was it money we were thinking about? We realized, of course, that the new car - if it would run at all - would be profitable to manufacture. But making a fortune for ourselves was not in the front of our thoughts. What we wanted to do was build a car which would cost so little that every family in the U.S. would be able to buy it.
“So we worked morning, noon, and night. We worked till our muscles ached, worked till our nerves were so ragged that we could not endure the word ‘automobile.’ One day when all of us were near the breaking point I laid down my tools and said, ‘Well, boys, there’s one consolation anyway. Nobody can take this thing away from us unless he’s willing to work on it harder than we’ve worked. And so far I haven’t seen anyone who’s willing to do that!’”
Henry Ford worked hard and the result was the Ford automobile. And I like very much his attitude of willingness to work hard in order to do something for mankind. He was not selfish. He was thinking of the American people. He was thinking of giving something to society instead of trying to “make money.”
His attitude and hard work should encourage us all to do better, to work harder in order to help and bless others. And also purchase Ford automobiles! Just kidding!
The Lord Jesus said of himself, “The Son of man came not to be served, but to serve.” Matthew 20:28
Col. 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
No matter what our job is, no matter what we do for a living, all of us who are in Christ are serving the Lord. That’s something that should motivate us to work harder.
Prov. 14:23 “All hard work brings a profit...”
You can’t work hard at anything and not profit in some form or another. If nothing else, your hard work can and should profit others. Of course, when it does, it will come back to you.
To bless others is to bless yourself. To rob others is to rob yourself.
ILL.- Sometime ago I read an interesting story about a sheep farmer from the land of down under, New Zealand. Derek Turnbull is his name. He is 63-years-old, has six grown children (a set of triplets in those six), and has a 640-acre farm. Depending on the time of year he has 2,000 ewes, 500 lambs, 20 rams, 40 breeding cows and calves, and assorted pigs, chickens and goats.
And he has another 2,000 ewes on a second farm. HE IS WHAT I CALL A REAL LIVESTOCK FARMER! It sounds like he has his hands full. And he does! And he loves every minute of it!
Sheep farming is hard work and except for the shearing, Derek Turnbull does all of it himself.
He said, “It’s continuous. You’re forever dipping, drenching (worming), tailing and shearing the darned things. It’s not like cattle where you just wait until they fatten. BUT I ENJOY THE WORK. I KNOW NO OTHER LIFE.”
At a time of age when most people are thinking about retirement, Derek Turnbull, the wonder from down under, is having the time of his life, working harder than ever. HE WORKS 15 HOURS A DAY. And then on the side, just for fun, he is a runner.
At that particular time, he was one of the fastest over-60 runners in the world. In a good year Turnbull makes about $35,000, but I suspect that his greatest profit is not measured in money at all.
Wouldn’t this world be a better place if more people had his kind of “work hard and enjoy life” attitude?
All hard work brings profit, but it isn’t just money-profit. IT’S THE KIND OF PROFIT THAT BLESSES OTHERS.
Acts 20:35 Paul said, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE.’”
II. DRINKING AND DRUNKENNESS
Prov. 20:1 “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.”
ILL.- Missionary John G. Paton was invited to dinner with a wealthy friend. Paton noticed that the servant poured a glass of whiskey for his host. Somewhat embarrassed, the man explained, "I take a little whiskey for my cough on my doctor’s prescription." Paton asked "How long have you been doing this?" "Eight years," came the reply. "Is your cough getting any better?" asked Paton . "No," answered the man. "Well," said the missionary, "if I had a doctor who prescribed for me for 8 years and it didn’t help me, I would quit taking his prescriptions and get a new doctor."
Most of time, alcohol doesn’t help anybody or any situation. It only makes things worse. It’s a real problem in our world and in America. And for people of all ages and ranks.
ILL.- Bush Daughters Cited for Underage Drinking. AUSTIN, Texas - Police issued misdemeanor citations to President Bush’s twin teenage daughters on Thursday for alleged underage drinking at a restaurant in Austin, Texas, earlier this week. Jenna Bush, in her second such run-in with the law in just over a month, was cited for misrepresenting her age as she tried to buy alcohol while her sister Barbara was cited for possession of alcohol by a minor, Austin police said in a statement.
Both women are 19 while Texas law prohibits anyone under age 21 from buying or drinking alcohol.
Drinking can be a problem for anybody!
ILL.- Back in the mid-70’s, M. Norvel Young was the chancellor of Pepperdine University, a Christian college. He had been a minister in the church of Christ for many years. He was involved in a terrible automobile wreck as a result of drinking alcohol. His car smashed into the back end of another car, bursting the gas tank, and burning two people to death. He was given a blood test and found to have more than twice the amount of alcohol in his system considered to be legally drunk.
WHY WOULD A PREACHER TURN TO DRINK? Even though Young was making $57,000 a year, he was still faced with financial problems. He took his first drink at the age of 54 while recovering from a mild heart attack. His drinking was probably associated with three things: his fiancees, health and work. And yet drinking alcohol caused even more problems in all those areas.
Drinking does not have a good record. It is not a problem-solver. It is a problem-maker.
ILL.- Tests show that after drinking only three bottles of beer, there is an average net loss of memory of 13%. Trained typists were tested and their errors increased 40% after taking only small quantities of alcohol. It is estimated that people who abuse alcohol shorten their lives by an average of 10-12 years.
ILL.- It is said that if you hold a mouthful of whiskey in your mouth for five minutes it will burn you severely. Hold it for 10 or 15 minutes, and you will find that various parts of the mouth have become blistered. Then tie a handkerchief over your eyes and taste, for instance, water, vinegar, milk, etc. and you will find that you are incapable of distinguishing one from another.
It is said that drinking alcohol is America’s number one drug problem! I BELIEVE IT! The number of alcoholics in America is over 17 million. The total is growing by at least 500,000 each year.
About 43% of US adults--76 million people--have been exposed to alcoholism in the family: they grew up with or married an alcoholic or a problem drinker or had a blood relative who was an alcoholic or problem drinker.
62% of high school seniors report that they have been drunk; 31% say that have had five or more drinks in a row during the last two weeks.
People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at age 21.
The statistics go on and on, and they are not in favor of drinking!
ILL.- Here are some drinking myths.
- “Alcohol is a stimulant.” It’s about as good a stimulant as ether. Alcohol acts as a depressant on the central nervous system.
- “People are friendlier when they’re drunk.” For some people, this might be true, but for many, they get meaner, more hostile, more dangerous, more criminal, more homicidal and more suicidal. Half of all murders are alcohol-related. And one third of all suicides.
- “Your kids will learn what you tell them about drinking.” No, your kids will learn what you show them about drinking.
- “A few drinks can help you to unwind and relax.” Maybe. But if you use alcohol as a medicine, you’re in trouble.
- “Alcoholism is just a state of mind.” No, it’s more than that. It’s a very real disease.
- “Most alcoholics are on skid row.” Not true. Only 3 to 5% are. Most alcoholics are (about 70%) are married, employed, regular people.
ILL.- On the last day of Abraham Lincoln’s life, the great emancipator said, “We have cleared up a colossal job. Slavery is abolished. After reconstruction the next great question will be the overthrow and suppression of the legalized liquor traffic.”
That evening Mr. Booth stopped in a saloon, filled himself with liquor to nerve himself for his planned tragedy. That night Lincoln’s bodyguard left the theater for a drink of liquor at that same saloon. While he was away Booth shot Lincoln. THOSE TWO DRINKS WERE VERY COSTLY.
ILL.- General Pershing said, “Drunkenness has killed more men than all of history’s wars.”
ILL.- Dr. Karl Menninger of the famous “Menninger Clinic” said, “If alcoholism were a contagious disease, America would be in an epidemic.”
Prov. 20:1 “Wine is a mocker and beer (or strong drink) a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.”
Rom. 14:21 “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.”
Eph. 5:17-18 “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
We don’t have to drink to get “high.” We have something far better with which to get us “high!”
CONCLUSION------------------------------------------
Someone wisely said, “The plan will work if we work the plan.” That may be not true of all plans, but it is true of God’s plans and God’s wisdom.
God’s proverbial wisdom will work if we work at it! God help us all to do that.
