Proverbial Wisdom

INTRO.- A few quips and quotes

- Where you live makes a difference. The fellow known in the city as a dashing playboy is known in a small town as the town drunk. Could be!

- One possible reason why things aren’t going to plan is that there never was a plan.

- The best way to enjoy a beautiful, productive garden is to live next door to one and cultivate your neighbor.

- You have reached middle age when a night out is followed by a day in.

- It’s surprising how easy it is for a man to understand a woman when he’s not married to her.

- Some tasks have to be put off dozens of times before they will completely slip the mind.

- Parents are embarrassed when their children tell lies, but sometimes it’s even worse when they tell the truth.

- Some people who claim to be working their fingers to the bone are simply scratching their heads.

- It seems like some people can’t be happy unless they are unhappy.

- Courtship is that period during which the female decides whether or not she can do any better.

- Some doctors tell their patients the bad news man-to-man, others prefer to send the bill by mail.

- Be happy when your troubles are at their worst. It means that anything that happens will be an improvement.

- The most difficult of all musical instruments to learn to play is second fiddle.

- In middle age it’s sometimes difficult to decide what there’s most of – middle or age.

- The guy who invented the boomerang is probably the same one who invented the credit card.

- Man is never so hard of hearing as when his opinions are being challenged.

- Too many are prone to let George do it and then complain about how he did it.

- A back-seat driver never runs out of gas.

- You never have to take a dose of your own medicine if you know when to keep your mouth shut.

- The trouble with TV is that we sit watching the 30-inch screen so much that we develop a 30-inch bottom.

- If you have someone eating out of your hand, it’s still a good idea to count your fingers at intervals.

- The trouble with some after-dinner speakers is that they have a two-minute idea and a two-hour vocabulary.

- By the time a fellow realizes what a drip he’s been, it’s too late to fix the faucet.

Now to the book of Proverbs with a variety of subjects to consider.

I. LAZINESS

10:4 “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”

ILL.- An old mountaineer and his wife who were sitting in front of the fireplace one evening just wasting away the time. After a long silence, the wife said: "Jed, I think it’s raining. Get up and go outside and see."

The old mountaineer continued to gaze into the fire for a second, sighed, then said, "Aw, Ma, why don’t we just call in the dog and see if he’s wet."

ILL.- Doctor to patient: “To be quite honest with you, your trouble is just laziness.”

Patient: “Yes, doctor, I know, but what is a scientific name for it? I’ve got to report it to my wife.”

Laziness is a problem that we all face in life. It may come at different stages or ages, but it does come to most of us.

There are things that we don’t like to do so we tend to say, “I’ll do it later,” which may indicate either laziness or procrastination. And there probably isn’t much difference in the two. We all procrastinate when it comes to some things.

ILL.- I heard one time that if you have to swallow 10 frogs that you should start with the biggest one first. In other words, start with the hard stuff first and get it out of the way. This could help with our laziness problem.

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU HATE TO DO THE MOST? Household chores? Wash clothes? Iron clothes? (who irons these days?) Clean house? Cook meals? Take out the trash? Mow the grass? Or is it your every day work at work? Or perhaps pay bills? (who doesn’t hate to do that?)

Whatever that most difficult job is, perhaps that’s what we should do first. Then perhaps the rest will be a breeze, so to speak.

10:4 “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”

Laziness makes a man poor. It used to do that. Do you think it still does? It may depend on how much government help a person can get.

In days gone by, if a man didn’t work, he didn’t eat. No so today. It seems like there is always help available. And I don’t want to deny people help if they truly need it, but some people are just too lazy to work for minimum wage in order to feed themselves and their families.