19:2 - Desire without knowledge is not good - how much more will hasty feet miss the way! - In our day and age we think that having the right desire is enough. We desire justice. We desire equality. We desire the Kingdom to advance. We desire health. But, many of us never take the time or make the effort to learn. We don't invest in understanding. The best approach is zeal with knowledge. It is motive with wisdom. If we only react to motives we will often miss the way. I have seen many young men and women who have had great hearts, but since they were unwilling to do the hard work of preparation it all came to nothing. If you truly want to be successful in working beside God then get your heart right and your head informed.
19:3 - One's own folly leads to ruin, yet the heart rages against the Lord. - Isn't it funny how true this verse is. So many times we rebel against the teachings of God, end up in a miserable situation or miserable life and then turn and blame God for it. We withhold our tithes and then blame God for our money woes. We put ourselves first and then blame God for our crumbling marriage. We fill up on media Twinkies and then blame God for our lust or anger or apathy. It is our own choices that ruin us, never God. God's instructions bring life. If we could at least accept that it is us who is doing the ruining, maybe we could get through some of it, but as long as it is "God's fault" we will stay right where we are. The beauty of confession is God never says I told you so. He always just takes us from there to healing.
19:8b - ...those who cherish understanding will soon prosper. - I am banking on the soon part. HA!
19:14b - ...a prudent wife is from the Lord. - TRUE! One of the greatest gifts in my life is my wife as she seeks God.
19:18 - Discipline your children, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to their death. - To let them choose their own way is to be a willing party to your kids destruction. God has called us to influence and lead our children in faith. No matter how much our current culture says we need to give them room to choose their own way, we need to listen to God's word and raise them up in faith. So many of us have bought into the lie that the greatest gift we can give our kids is the choice of what to believe. The greatest gift we can give our kids is a strong early foundation in walking with Jesus.
19:27 - Stop listening to instruction, my child, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. - I see one friend after another who ends up really struggling and one of the first things that come sup is that they quit seeking God in His word. For some reason we want it to be different, but it is pretty simple. Stay in the Word and you stay with God. Walk away from the Word and you struggle.
20:4 - Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing. - A lot of us can look busy without being productive. We can run 100 miles an hour and never produce any fruit. The truth of a person's life is how much fruit comes up. If nothing comes up over an extended period of time than we are really sluggards who have not plowed in season. Busy-ness and business are no substitute for planting seed for Christ.
20:9 - Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"? -
20:13 - Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare. - I have seen friends who for one reason or another (depression, selfishness, fear, weariness) let sleep consume them. They sleep more and more and more and their life falls apart. God is not opposed to healthy rest, but you have to determine what is healthy and what is hiding. Hiding never works. You know your hiding if you feel something inside of you telling you to do something and you lay down instead. Sleep is a powerful drug that sucks the life out of a person, a family, really any relationship. Be careful not to fall in love with something that will take the best years of your life away.
20:19 - A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much. - WOW! If you see someone who seems to always be talking, be on your guard. If you happen to be a person who always has something to say, do something to change that.
Love you, Michael
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