Proverbs 12:11 He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.
And a hearty good morning to you my wonderful Friends in Christ! It’s time for us to rise and shine and go about the Lord’s business with a heart overflowing with mercy, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, compassion and understanding, all embodied in His Spirit of LOVE. I sincerely hope that we have all successfully tilled our land, dirtied our hands, and been blessed with the fruits of our labour. Isn’t that what the sage, Solomon said? ‘He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.’ And if it’s one thing Sol doesn’t do is lie. Later in life, he might have lost his way and not taken his own advice, which we all do, hence the saying, ‘do as I say, but not as I do,’ but he never told untruths. Yesterday we looked at the first half of the proverb; the wise and sensible path, to day we’ll consider the part where instead of doing our job and tilling our soil, we hang out with and follow the wrong kind of people. And Sol thought this proverb so important that he repeated it in a later chapter, in a slightly different form. ‘He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.’ (Prov.28:19) Yes my Friends, in one you’re ‘void of understanding,’ and in the other you’ll ‘have poverty enough.’ What does he mean by those statements? It is basically a comparison between wisdom and foolishness. He that works diligently will be well rewarded, but he that stands around and gabs, is lazy, does worthless things is devoid of heart. That’s apparently the literal translation of the Greek word termed understanding. We can also say it just the way it’s written; if we follow those who are vain, conceited, controlled by vanity and unnatural adoration for themselves and their own pursuits, we are certainly lacking in understanding. That’s putting it nicely. The truth of the matter is that we are downright fools, for those kinds of people have nothing useful to offer us, only the meaningless acclaim and trinkets of the evil world. And for sure my people, there’s nothing that brings one to poverty, to one’s knees, like hanging out with and following lazy, aimless, slothful folk. Sol also likens it to committing adultery. ‘But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.’ (Prov.6:32-33) Remember my brethren, it is ‘Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.’ (Ex.20:9-10) It’s not thou shalt work one day and rest six. This means that we’re supposed to be productive members of society, working diligently and contributing something useful to it, not just be hangers on and parasites, merely sucking out its lifeblood like leeches, and not adding anything worthwhile. And here is more good advice from Sol on the subject of diligence versus sloth. ‘LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.’ (Prov.20:13) We all know people like that, who just like to sleep and laze about. But they generally come to nothing, meet some sad end. But those who are up and about and doing, generally fare better. It’s like retirement; after numerous years of constant work, one day we suddenly stop, replace work with sitting around the house doing nothing constructive. What happens? After a while the body atrophies, the mind becomes dull and the spirit withers through lack of use, leaving us a mere shell of our former selves. It’s trite but true; if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Life runs the same way my Friends. That’s why they caution us to have some hobby or something constructive to do when we retire. We need to be up and about, being productive, especially if we consider ourselves followers of Christ. Please note that Jesus was always moving around, preaching, teaching, healing, admonishing, whatever. And He must have been one fit dude for He apparently walked everywhere He went, except when He triumphantly entered Jerusalem riding a donkey on that first Palm Sunday. He even walked on the water. (smile) So my Friends, as believers we can’t afford to be, or be seen as anything less than diligent, enthusiastic, passionate people in whatever we do. Associating with vain, lazy, slothful, unproductive persons who take pleasure in excessive sleep and useless baubles should definitely not be attributed to us. If we want to be real, true Christians, both inside and out, then it’s absolutely necessary that we get down and dirty and do the Lord’s work and not be afraid to sully our nice, soft, manicured hands. As Bruh Paul so rightly declared to the Ephesians. ‘See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.’ (Eph.5:15-17) Friends, I couldn’t have said it any better. So please heed that advice. And till we meet again, remember to LOVE your God, and LIVE your Faith. Much LOVE!…show me your friends…and I’ll tell you who you are…
And a hearty good morning to you my wonderful Friends in Christ! It’s time for us to rise and shine and go about the Lord’s business with a heart overflowing with mercy, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, compassion and understanding, all embodied in His Spirit of LOVE. I sincerely hope that we have all successfully tilled our land, dirtied our hands, and been blessed with the fruits of our labour. Isn’t that what the sage, Solomon said? ‘He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.’ And if it’s one thing Sol doesn’t do is lie. Later in life, he might have lost his way and not taken his own advice, which we all do, hence the saying, ‘do as I say, but not as I do,’ but he never told untruths. Yesterday we looked at the first half of the proverb; the wise and sensible path, to day we’ll consider the part where instead of doing our job and tilling our soil, we hang out with and follow the wrong kind of people. And Sol thought this proverb so important that he repeated it in a later chapter, in a slightly different form. ‘He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.’ (Prov.28:19) Yes my Friends, in one you’re ‘void of understanding,’ and in the other you’ll ‘have poverty enough.’ What does he mean by those statements? It is basically a comparison between wisdom and foolishness. He that works diligently will be well rewarded, but he that stands around and gabs, is lazy, does worthless things is devoid of heart. That’s apparently the literal translation of the Greek word termed understanding. We can also say it just the way it’s written; if we follow those who are vain, conceited, controlled by vanity and unnatural adoration for themselves and their own pursuits, we are certainly lacking in understanding. That’s putting it nicely. The truth of the matter is that we are downright fools, for those kinds of people have nothing useful to offer us, only the meaningless acclaim and trinkets of the evil world. And for sure my people, there’s nothing that brings one to poverty, to one’s knees, like hanging out with and following lazy, aimless, slothful folk. Sol also likens it to committing adultery. ‘But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.’ (Prov.6:32-33) Remember my brethren, it is ‘Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.’ (Ex.20:9-10) It’s not thou shalt work one day and rest six. This means that we’re supposed to be productive members of society, working diligently and contributing something useful to it, not just be hangers on and parasites, merely sucking out its lifeblood like leeches, and not adding anything worthwhile. And here is more good advice from Sol on the subject of diligence versus sloth. ‘LOVE not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.’ (Prov.20:13) We all know people like that, who just like to sleep and laze about. But they generally come to nothing, meet some sad end. But those who are up and about and doing, generally fare better. It’s like retirement; after numerous years of constant work, one day we suddenly stop, replace work with sitting around the house doing nothing constructive. What happens? After a while the body atrophies, the mind becomes dull and the spirit withers through lack of use, leaving us a mere shell of our former selves. It’s trite but true; if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Life runs the same way my Friends. That’s why they caution us to have some hobby or something constructive to do when we retire. We need to be up and about, being productive, especially if we consider ourselves followers of Christ. Please note that Jesus was always moving around, preaching, teaching, healing, admonishing, whatever. And He must have been one fit dude for He apparently walked everywhere He went, except when He triumphantly entered Jerusalem riding a donkey on that first Palm Sunday. He even walked on the water. (smile) So my Friends, as believers we can’t afford to be, or be seen as anything less than diligent, enthusiastic, passionate people in whatever we do. Associating with vain, lazy, slothful, unproductive persons who take pleasure in excessive sleep and useless baubles should definitely not be attributed to us. If we want to be real, true Christians, both inside and out, then it’s absolutely necessary that we get down and dirty and do the Lord’s work and not be afraid to sully our nice, soft, manicured hands. As Bruh Paul so rightly declared to the Ephesians. ‘See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.’ (Eph.5:15-17) Friends, I couldn’t have said it any better. So please heed that advice. And till we meet again, remember to LOVE your God, and LIVE your Faith. Much LOVE!…show me your friends…and I’ll tell you who you are…
SCRIP-BITS 