“GOD’S YELLOW PAGES”
by Rick Labate
· BLACK SLIDE
Introduction
You won’t believe the troubles I’ve been having this week! And I don’t know where to turn for help! First of all, our water heater sprung a leak and I don’t know any plumbers! I waited around for a while hoping one would knock on my door, but after several hours when no one came by I gave up on that and tried plugging the leak with a towel…which didn’t work very well. It’s awful! Does anyone here know any good plumbers? If you do, just yell out their names and tell me how to reach them!
· WAIT FOR REPSONSE
I had another problem. I needed to call Chuck and Sheila to follow up on a matter regarding their granddaughter’s baby dedication last week. But I had forgotten their telephone number. Does anybody know their telephone number?
· WAIT FOR REPSONSE
Then last Monday I needed to call the fellow who inspected the house Ruth Anne and I are thinking of buying and couldn’t remember his telephone number. Does anyone know the telephone number to Eagle Home Inspections?
· WAIT FOR RESPONSE
Then someone asked me where the recycling sites are in Danville. And I didn’t know what to tell them. Does anyone where these sites are located?
· WAIT FOR RESPONSE
You know, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had only looked in here. (Hold up telephone book) I’ve had this book around my house all week but never bothered to open it. Of course, some of you might say the same thing about this book. (Hold up Bible)
Let me tell you why I love this book:
1. It tells me I am loved.
2. It tells me how to live.
1. It tells me that God has planned for my eternal life.
2. It also tells me that God has a plan for this life.
· BLACK SLIDE
Just as it would have been very helpful if I had remembered to refer to the telephone directory and especially the Yellow Pages for the information I could have used this past week so God has a section in the middle of His Word that I like to think of as God’s Yellow Pages. Extremely, practical counsel from God’s word on how to best relate to most any situation that can come your way. This book talks about everything from eating to marriage. There is counsel on everything from work to salvation.
I’m referring to God’s Yellow Pages: The book of Proverbs. The most succinct place where God has given us direction on how to succeed in life.
I have 4 questions for you. If what I ask you is an important matter in your life would you please say “Yes.”
1. Is work a big part of your life?
2. Is money important in your life?
3. Is knowing how to make wise and intelligent decisions important to you?
4. Is being able to be strong in the face of adversity important to you?
You just answered “yes” to every Yellow Page entry we will be looking at this morning.
While the entire book of Proverbs is worthy of study we will focus in on a concentrated section of counsel that occurs in chapters 22-24. This counsel is introduced in 22:20-21.
“I have written thrity more sayings for you. They are full of counsel and wisdom. These are true sayings and reliable words; they will help you give sound advice to those who want answers.”
That’s for me! So let’s look at 6 of these 30 sayings as God’s Word helps us know how to approach some very important areas of our lives.
SAYING #5 (22:29)
“Show me a man who does his work faithfully and well, and I will show you a man worthy to be in the presence of kings; he is not just another man.”
Employees in a Detroit business office found the following notice on their bulletin board: “The management regrets that it has come to their attention that workers dying on the job are failing to fall down. This practice must stop, as it becomes impossible to distinguish between death and the natural movement of the staff.”
· BLACK SLIDE
Being a faithful and effective worker is one of the greatest statements we can make that Christ makes a difference in our lives. In a world who’s motto has become “Give me more for less”, there are those who are faithful Christian workers like yourself that make others consider Christ simply by how you work.
According to the one Christian author, useful labor:
1. Essential to happiness (CG 349)
2. Increases our happiness (LS 87)
3. Imparts energy and efficiency to the restless and dissatisfied mind. (3T 336)
4. Essential to man’s physical, mental and moral well-being. (3T 400)
· BLACK SLIDE
King Henry III grew tired of court life and the pressures of being the king so he applied to a monastery to be accepted for a life of contemplation. The religious superior said to him, “Your Majesty, do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king.”
Henry replied, “I understand. The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.”
“Then I will tell what to do. Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has placed you.”
Like King Henry, we sometimes often tire of our role and responsibility. But we need to remember that God has called us to be faithful where we serve no matter a plumber, accountant, mother or teacher.
SAYING #7 (23:4-5)
“Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to pace yourself through life. Don’t envy wealth which is not yours; riches can sprout wings and fly away like an eagle which soars into the sky and disappear.”
Talking about money is dicey. While we recognize our need of it, we must also recognize its power over us.
God’s Word is very clear about money. What it says, is that the problem is not money, it is man’s heart. God’s people can be rich, poor or in the middle. But here in America we too easily fall prey to materialism. We need to be reminded of these words in Proverbs 30:7-9
“Two things I ask of you Lord…Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
Next time you’re tempted to think that winning the lottery or hoping for that large inheritance is the answer to your dreams, remember:
Money will buy:
· A bed, but not sleep.
· Books, but not brains.
· Food, but not appetite.
· A house, but not a home.
· Medicine, but not health.
· Amusement, but not happiness.
· Finery, but not beauty.
· A crucifix, but not a Savior.
SAYING #21 (24:5-6)
“A wise man is powerful; knowledge is more important than strength. When you go to war you need guidance; there is safety in getting advice from many counselors.”
· BLACK SLIDE
Wisdom is power.
One morning the young new president of a bank made an appointment with his predecessor to seek some advice. He began, “Sir, as you well know, I lack a great deal of the qualifications you already have for this job. You have been very successful as president of this bank, and I wondered if you would be kind enough to share with me some of the insights you have gained from your years here that have been the keys to your success.”
The older man looked at him and replied: “Young man, two words: good decisions.”
The young man responded, “Thank you, sir. But how does one come to know which is the good decision?”
“One word, young man: experience.”
“But how does one get experience?
“Two words, young man: bad decisions.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could make good decisions without having to go through the experience of bad decisions? Well, we can. It’s called reading God’s Word and obeying what it says to do.
One of the most famous sentences in the book of Proverbs is, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Prov. 9:10) This kind of fear means respect. Whenever you respect someone, you trust what he or she tells you. It is the same with the Lord. Respect for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom in that when you listen to His counsel you will make good decisions.
Let me see if I can illustrate it this way.
As I’ve already mentioned Ruth Anne and I are in the process of purchasing a home. While I enjoy home improvement projects I would be fooling myself if I claimed to have even a basic knowledge of all the systems and structures that make up a house.
Therefore I knew I had to find someone who was wiser than me. I hired a home inspector and paid him $300 to carefully inspect the house. His inspection revealed a problem with the piping in the home that makes it prone to leaks. His wisdom about houses saved us many thousands of dollars and averted a potential disaster.
The only thing I can claim is that I was wise enough to know I was stupid. This man is an expert about houses and his fee paid for itself many times over.
God is an expert about life and following His word will give you success
when you have decisions to make.
Listen to these incredible words: “As you ask the Lord to help you, honor your Savior by believing that you do receive His blessing. All power, all wisdom, are at our command. We have only to ask.” MH 514
SAYING #24 (24:10)
“If you faint in times of difficulty, it will show how weak you really are.”
God would have us be strong and persevere even when problems come to us.
· CARTOON OF SNOW AND CHURCH STEEPLE
Nothing was going to keep this couple from going to church. While this is only make-believe listen to this true story about perseverance.
· SHOW PICTURE OF MARSHALL ULRICH
Marshall Ulrich didn’t take up running until the age of 29. In 1989 he rocked the ultrarunning world by completing a record six 100-mile races in one season, finishing in the top ten in five of them.
Ulrich is best known for his feats at the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile midsummer race from the bottom of Death Valley (North America’s lowest point at 282 feet below sea-level, and also its hottest) to the top of Mount Whitney (at 14,495 feet, the highest point in the lower 48 states.)
Having already won the race 4 times, in 1999 Ulrich came up with a twist: complete the same route alone and without support. That meant towing a modified baby jogger laden with food, clothing and 22 gallons of water and ice—totaling more than 220 pounds—through 15,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain, 120-degree temperatures and persistent nosebleeds. He did it in 77 hours.
Last summer, in a benefit for a Third World hunger relief program, Ulrich ran from Death Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney and back, and turned around and did it again—a 584-mile trek (the equivalent of 22 consecutive marathons).
How could anyone possible accomplish such a thing? His good friend says, “It’s not that Marshall’s not human, it’s that nothing gets between himself and the challenge at hand.”
Did you get that? He trains and then simply, he doesn’t quit. Imagine if we could have that same kind of perseverance in living for God, in being doing good for others…in simply not giving in when our trials threaten to overcome us. That is what saying #24 is telling us.
“The elements of character that make a man successful and honored among men—the untiring perseverance—are not to be crushed out.” PP 602
Conclusion
Let’s close with a little fun true or false quiz.
1. When all his teammates fouled out of the game, high school basketball player Pat McGee finished the game for his school alone and won. (True. This happened in 1937 at St. Peter’s High School)
2. In the late 1800s, a sailor who was lost at sea was found later that day, alive, in the belly of a whale his shipmates had killed. (True)
3. Actor Harrison Ford got the trademark scar under his lip while filming the movie, Star Wars. (False. He drove into a tree while trying to buckle his seat belt.)
· How did you decide what was true or false during this quiz?(Educated guess, gut feeling?)
· How do you decide what’s true and what’s false in your day-to-day life? In other words, how do you decide what will really work to make your life as full as Jesus wants it to be?
The answer to that is believe what His Word says to us. And in God’s Yellow Pages you can find many more good bits of how to really live life in a wise and fulfilling manner.
Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” You just might find a big part of that abundant life in book of Proverbs or as we also call it, God’s Yellow Pages.
