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The Overwhelming Importance of a Good Work Ethic and Preparedness for Unpredictable Circumstances!

27 Jul 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a desire for easy living, a desire to be comfortable, a little folding of the hands to sleep, a little sleep, a little slumber, a prowler, a secret destination, a secret purpose, allow your incredible aura of love, amenitites that make life easy, as a thief in the night, as one that travelleth, be as busy as the days, be prepared for whenever Jesus returns, be ye also ready, begin a new week of work, buffeted and bombarded, busy like bees, consider her ways and be wise, diligence, dire poverty, divine aid, faith, fill us with steadfast faith, filled with doom and gloom, for in such an hour as ye think not, foresight, furthering your glorious kingdom, gathereth her food in the harvest, get left behind, go out to meet the enemy in battle, go to the ant thou sluggard, having no guide overseer ruler, he becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, holy spirit, how long wilt thou sleep O sluggard, into the evil and ungodly world, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs that serve a useful purpose, known when the thief would come, laggards, laziness leads to dire poverty, lead and guide all your servants, leaves a lot to be desired, life lessons, living in our efforts of yesteryear, living on past glory, LOVE, make worthwhile inroads into the enemy's ranks, mercy, not allowed his house to be broken into, perpetual laziness, poverty comes quickly and unexpectedly, prepare for unpredictable circumstances, prepare for unpredictable situations, prosperity comes from diligent work, prosperity requires contiual diligence, provideth her meat in the summer, raise our work ethic, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality and enthusiasm, sally forth with confidence, salvation, self-motivation, serve a useful purpose, so shall thy poverty come, stop being lackadaisical, suffer the resulting consequences, sure conquerors, the ant is a self-starter, the enemy's evil schemes, the error of their ways, the goodman of the house, the hand of the diligent maketh rich, the last Monday in July, the sense of entitlement, the Son of man cometh, the throne of grace, this generation's work ethic, thy want as an armed man, treading down a road to certain destruction, truth, unpredictable times, unstable and uncertain times, we surrender our all to you, we're not afraid, wearing your powerful protective spiritual armour, what a surprise, when wilt thou arise, wisdom, work ethic, would have watched, wrought in our weary souls

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 July 2026 Proverbs 6:6.

Proverbs 6:6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

And here we are on a hot, somewhat cloudy day; the last Monday in July…what a surprise! It should not be, because the days are rapidly moving ahead as though they have some secret purpose; some secret destination to reach in a certain amount of time and they are just busy like bees going about their jobs, regardless of if it’s causing some of us problems. (smile)

The truth though, is that we should be just as busy as the days are, doing what God has called us to do. We cannot afford to be laggards, or else we’ll simply get left behind and thus suffer the resulting consequences. And that advice is even more apropos for today’s world than ever before, since every day more problems are arising and what was once a reasonably sure and secure life, now seems unstable and uncertain at the best of times.

And how are we supposed to behave, you ask? Generally speaking, as Jesus desires, but I guess more specifically and to the point, as Cousin Sol advises in Proverbs. ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide (leader), overseer or ruler, Provideth her meat (grains, bread) in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.’ (Prov. 6:6-8) Now that’s a wonderful bit of advice for all of us!

Yes friends, Cousin Sol is using the lowly ant to teach us life lessons re that most important subject of work ethic; ‘featuring themes of diligence, foresight and self-motivation.’ And that’s rather interesting, since the ant has neither, leader, ruler nor overseer to guide him, but nonetheless knows instinctively to collect food in the summer harvest months so that he will be able to survive in the hard, cold winter months. In other words, as the scholars say: ‘The ant is a self-starter, and is wise enough to prepare for unpredictable circumstances.’

And all of us know that our crazy times can, and will produce unpredictable circumstances, that’s why it’s ever so necessary to do our best and be prepared for them when they come. But Cousin Sol doesn’t only point out the ant’s wise work ethic; he also preaches to the sluggard, lazy person directly, showing them the error of their ways.

He asks? ‘How long wilt thou sleep (lie down, be lazy), O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth (a prowler), and thy want (need) as an armed man.’ (Prov. 6:9-11) Yes my bredrin, perpetual laziness is filled with only doom and gloom. As Cousin Sol points out; it leads to dire poverty, and that dire poverty will come as quickly, unexpectedly and decisively as a robber or thief hits in the dark of night.

Remember how Jesus warned about His return. ‘But know this, that if the goodman (master) of the house had known in what watch (hour) the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered (allowed) his house to be broken up (into). Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.’ (Matt. 24:43-44)

Oh my people, just as we should stop being lackadaisical and be prepared for whenever Jesus returns, likewise we must stop being lazy in our work habits and prepare for the unpredictable circumstances that will arise, but which we will be unable to handle if we continue to be lazy. And sadly, in our very progressive world, we possess too many amenities that make life much easier than before, and when we add the sense of entitlement that currently permeates our society, they have bred a desire for comfortable, easy living.

Thus, the work ethic of this generation leaves a lot to be desired. And if they don’t wake up soon and realize that they are treading down a road to certain destruction, then that’s where they will eventually end up. And it’s very unfortunate, that we seem to gather more knowledge every day, but we also seem to lose just as much too, in particular this most important aspect; that prosperity arises out of sincere and serious work, but prosperity does not stick around long without continuous sincere and serious work.

And we see that happening all down through the ages; countries getting prosperous by encouraging a good work ethic, but when the prosperity arrives, the work ethic eventually dies and living on our efforts of yesteryear begin, and so does the decline and destruction of the society. However, as true believers in Jesus Christ, we have options, and one of those is to go to the throne of grace through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn seeking divine aid in these most unpredictable times.

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise and thank You this Monday morning for our jobs; jobs we sometimes don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose; keeping lives and families together. We also thank You Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm You’ve wrought in our weary souls over the weekend. It’s that rejuvenation of spirit which now allows us to sally forth with confidence into the evil and ungodly world, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s evil schemes.

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing Your powerful, protective spiritual armour! We surrender our all to You, and humbly ask that You allow Your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide all Your servants, as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, thereby furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Amen!’

And having said all of that, let’s now go out and raise our work ethic as required! Much LOVE!

…He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack (negligent) hand…but the hand of the diligent maketh rich… (Prov. 10:4)

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Uniting and Working Together on Christ’s Behalf!

01 Jun 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a beautiful summer Monday, a little folding of the hands to sleep, a little slumber, a prowler, a society is only as strong and productive as its people, a spirit of diligence, a wonderful work ethic, allow your incredible aura of love, another mistake, as good Christian folk, as one that travelleth, asking for forgivenss, be wise, begin a new week of work, beginning to decay, bring about positive change, christianity, Christians, Christians need to unite, colonies of ants are always busy, consider her ways and be wise, constantly buffeted, crazy idea, deeper and deeper, dire want, divine aid, do good work for Jesus, do nothing productive, do our duty, encouragement, enthusiasm, eventual poverty, expect forgiveness, faith, fill us with steadfast faith, furthering your glorious kingdom, gathereth her food in the harvest, get serious and come together, getting on in age, glorify Jesus' awesome name, go out to meet the enemy in battle, go to the ant thou sluggard, God has not given us a spirit of laziness, habitual laziness, having no guide leader overseer, holy spirit, hope and pray, how long wilt thou sleep O sluggard, humble servants, industriousness, into the evil and ungodly world, invincible conquerors, Jesus Christ, jobs, keeping lives and families together, leads to destruction, learn two important lessons from the ant, LOVE, make another apology, make living too easy, make worthwhile inroads into the enemy's ranks, mankind, many who choose to sit on our fannies, May only had thrity days, mercy, numerous separate entities, ONE body in Christ, one of the lowliest of God's creations, only human, our Father who art in heaven, over the weekend, perseveraance, poverty will come as suddenly and decisively as a robber, prepare for predictable circumstances, provideth her meat in the summer, quicksand, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality and enthusiasm, sally forth with confidence, salvation, self-starter, serve a useful purpose, sluggard, so shall thy poverty come, somebody looking over their shoulder, standing over it to make it work, suffeing from a lack of positive production, surrender our all to God, the ant has no taskmaster, the apple of God's creation, the BIBLE, the enemy's evil schemes, the first day of June, the habitually lazy person, the last of my mistakes, the mind sometimes gets fuzzy, the poor are getting poorer, the result of laziness is dire poverty, the rich are getting richer, the society begins going downhill, the throne of grace, the wisdom and knowledge imbued in man by God, this wealthy comfortable society, thy want as an armed man, to, to lead and guide all your servants, too many amentities, truth, turbulent and uncertain times, unfortunate circumstances, we're not afraid, wealth distributed more equitably, wealth is consolidated in too few hands, wearing God's powerful protective spiritual armour, when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep, wisdom, wise enough to, wise words that seem appropriate, work ethic, wrought in our weary souls, yet a little sleep

Today’s Scrip-Bit 1 June 2026 Proverbs 6:9.

Proverbs 6:9. How long wilt thou sleep (lie down), O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

Oh friends, the first day of June 2026 has turned out to be a beautiful summer Monday, which ought to give us encouragement and enthusiasm to get out there and do good work for Jesus! (smile) But, unfortunately, I need to make another apology for another mistake, don’t know how many of you noticed it, but this one was in Saturday’s Bit, where I claimed that that was the last day of the month … and I did it twice to boot, at the beginning and at the end. I don’t know where I got the crazy idea that May only had thirty days. My mind must be going on me.

And it seems like I had forgotten the old rhyme that they taught us back in the old days: ‘Thirty days have April, June and September; the rest have thirty-one, except February which has twenty-eight, but in leap years twenty-nine.’ But somehow or the other I got it in my mind that May only had thirty days. So again, I’m asking for your forgiveness, and as good Christian folk, expect you to give it to me most willingly, (smile) for the ole fella is only human and is also getting on in age, and you know the mind sometimes gets fuzzy when that happens. So, let’s hope and pray that will be the last of my mistakes for a while. (smile)

And on this marvellous Monday in June, let’s look at some wise words of Cousin Sol, that seem rather appropriate for these turbulent and uncertain times, and can only benefit us if we follow them. Now, Cousin Sol’s first admonishment in this passage is: ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide (leader), overseer or ruler, Provideth her meat (grain or bread) in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.’ (Prov. 6:6-8)

Oh my people, what wise and wonderful words and ever so applicable to many of us in this wealthy, comfortable society, who choose to just sit on our fannies and don’t do anything productive. It’s as the scholars explain: ‘The sluggard is the habitually lazy person. He is admonished to learn two important lessons from the ant: (1) the ant has no guide, overseer, or ruler (vs. 7), meaning that the ant does not have to have a taskmaster standing over it to make it work; it is a self-starter. (2) The ant is wise enough to prepare for predictable circumstances (vs.8).’

Yes mih brethren, we’ve all seen how colonies of ants are always busy, especially in the summer months, when they go about collecting food and storing it away for the winter months when food is hard to come by. And they don’t need to be told to do that, or have somebody looking over their shoulder prodding them to do it. So, if ants, one of the lowliest of God’s creations, are so wise and have such a wonderful work ethic, why can’t mankind, the apple of God’s creation, with all the wisdom and knowledge imbued in Him by His Creator, react the same way to life eh?

Possibly because our society has gotten too wealthy and we have too many amenities that make living too easy. But wait, Cousin Sol isn’t done with the sluggard, for he continues: ‘How long wilt thou sleep (lie down), O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth (a prowler), and thy want (need) as an armed man.’ (Prov. 6:9-11)

And what’s that all about you ask? Listen to the scholars’ explanation: ‘Two questions about sleep are posed to the sluggard (vs.9). His answer is given in verse 10: “Just a little bit more sleep!” The result of such laziness is dire poverty, which will come as suddenly and decisively as a robber (v.11).’ And isn’t that the awful truth! Habitual laziness only leads to dire want and eventual poverty. No wonder there are so many needy people in our society. Now let’s note that all needy people are not lazy, but some have indeed endured genuine unfortunate circumstances.

However, there are indeed too many lazy people in our society, from which the work ethic is quickly disappearing, and once that happens, it’s only a matter of time before the society itself begins going downhill. That’s because a society is only as strong and productive as its people. And when we look around our world, despite our total wealth, which unfortunately is consolidated in too few hands, many societies are suffering from a lack of positive production and are thus beginning to decay.

Who knows if the wealth was distributed more equitably, if the situation would change, but for sure right now, the rich are getting insanely richer while the poor are getting inhumanely poorer, and that’s not a good situation for our world. So what can be done about it? We Christians, supposed believers in, and followers of Christ, are the only ones who can bring about positive change. But before we can do that, we desperately need to unite as the ONE BODY in Christ that we were created to be, not the numerous separate entities that we’ve become. And if we don’t unite soon, our world will just keep getting deeper and deeper in the quicksand that leads to total destruction.

And to help us do all we need to do to turn the situation around, let’s confidently, but humbly, approach the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn seeking divine aid. Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise and thank You this Monday morning for our jobs; jobs we sometimes don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose; keeping lives and families together.

We also thank You Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm You’ve wrought in our weary souls over the weekend. It’s that rejuvenation of spirit which now allows us to sally forth with confidence into the evil and ungodly world, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s evil schemes. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing Your powerful, protective spiritual armour!

We surrender our all to You, and humbly ask that You allow Your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide all Your servants, as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, thereby furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Amen!

Now, let’s get serious and come together, so that we can do our duty and glorify Jesus’ awesome name! Much LOVE!

…Jesus has not given us a spirit of laziness…but one of diligence…industriousness…and perseverance…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 June 2018 Proverbs 6:6.

06 Jun 2018 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a glorious future with Jesus, a prowler, a robber, a storm of nonsense, admonished, an armed man, be wise, cease to exist, Colorado, consider her ways, creating new worth, crumble, diligence, dire poverty, enriching feeling, feeding on themselves, fell to ruin, fire and brimstone, folding of the hands, foundation of joy, gathers food, get on board, get over the hump, glad to be alive, go to the ant, good fruit, grace, Guatemala, habitually lazy person, halfway home, hands on the plough, hard work, Hawaii, heavenly Father, homelessness, in the hands of a few, in the harvest, joy, joyfully declare, knock us for six, leader, learn from the ant, looking forward to, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, make ends meet, mercy, negative things, New Mexico, no guide, not looking back, overseer, part-time work, poverty, prayers, predictable circumstances, prosperity, relative comfort, right the wrongs, self-starter, sit on our laurels, sleep, sluggard, smell the java, summer time, taskmaster, the breath of life, the fallen lot, the middle of the week, the weekend, this is the day the Lord has made, threat, trash pile, uplifting, volcanic problems, wake up, we will rejoice and be glad in it, wealth, wealthy societies, Wednesday Wail, wildfires, winter season

Proverbs 6:6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

So friends, it’s Wednesday, the middle of the work week. Are you already looking forward to the weekend? I know a lot of us are. Wednesday just seems to be the day we get over the hump. (smile) But there is no need to relegate the other days to the trash pile because every day comes bearing good fruit and plenty of grace, mercy and LOVE from our heavenly Father.

We ought to enjoy each and everyday regardless of what it’s called and what we have to do in it. That’s why I want to begin today by joyfully declaring like the psalmist of old: ‘This is the day the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!’

Mamacita! What a good, uplifting and enriching feeling that produces! With that foundation of joy, we can now move on and handle whatever negative things that may come against us.

And in our relative comfort, let’s remember in our prayers those unfortunate people in Hawaii and Guatemala who are dealing with volcanic problems, and those in New Mexico and Colorado where wildfires are burning out of hand. Yuh know fire and brimstone are mankind’s biggest threat. (smile)

And I was just led to an interesting and very appropriate Bit for out times. Hear these words of wisdom from Cousin Sol. ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise; Which having no guide (leader), overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat (bread, grain) in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.’ (Prov.6:6-8)

Ah my people, in these unfortunate times of excessive laziness, sloth and entitlement, there is no better example for us to follow than the ordinary ant, who though they have no leader or leaders like us, go about their business with such wisdom, gathering their food for the winter season in the summer time and storing it away for the rough times to come.

And Cousin Sol continues on the subject: ‘How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth (a prowler), and thy want (need) as an armed man.’ (Prov.6:9-11)

And the scholars offer this explanation. ‘6:6-11. The sluggard is the habitually lazy person. He is admonished to learn two important lessons from the ant: (1) the ant has no guide, overseer, or ruler (v.7), meaning that the ant does not have a taskmaster standing over it to make it work; it is a self-starter. (2) The ant is wise enough to prepare for predictable circumstances (v.8).

Two questions about sleep are posed to the sluggard (v.9). His answer is given in verse 10: “Just a little bit more sleep!” The result of such laziness is dire poverty, which will come as suddenly and decisively as a robber (v.11).’

Oh friends, I don’t know if there has ever been a time when our interest in working, in being productive has been lower than now. But I guess to a certain extent it comes with the territory, meaning that the more a society becomes prosperous, the more we tend to sit on our laurels and forget what and who brought us to that position of prosperity.

It’s only hard work and diligence that enriches a society, and when we forget that, the society will inevitably crumble. That’s why our history is loaded with wealthy societies that soon fell to ruin, because they began feeding on themselves, rather than creating new worth.

And if we look closely and realistically we will see the same thing happening with our current society. In this supposedly wealthy and prosperous society, our young people are more into partying and chatting up a storm of nonsense than doing productive work and so many of us have to work at more than one job just to make ends meet.

Notwithstanding that jobs are becoming fewer and fewer, and when you find one it’s mostly part time. The level of poverty and homelessness is ridiculous for the amount of wealth we have, but so much of that wealth is in the hands of a very few fortunate and greedy ones.

And because of that wealth, they sit in their high towers and comfortable palatial homes and don’t recognize that our society is going to the dogs, is dying a slow and painful death, and unless that wealth is shared, some time, sooner than we expect, the full effects of a very lopsided economy and society will knock us for six!

Consequently friends, I implore us to wake up and smell the java, which incidentally is a huge aspect of our economy, and start trying to right the wrongs that we are able to. Yes, unless and until, each and every one of us begin to start making changes within our spectrum, our society will just keep going downhill, until we’ll be eventually numbered amongst the fallen lot.

It’s not too late friends, so let’s get to it nuh. The LOVE Revolution of Jesus is waiting, praying and hoping that you will get on board. And for those of us who are already on board, let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know our position in and with Jesus.

In strong voice and sincere heart, let’s wail: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home.

My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’

And we know that that future with Jesus will indeed be most glorious! Much LOVE!

…anything that feeds on itself…will soon cease to exist…so let’s be wise…and learn from the ant nuh…

SCRIP-BITS

The Overwhelming Importance of a Good Work Ethic and Preparedness for Unpredictable Circumstances!

The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Uniting and Working Together on Christ’s Behalf!

Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 June 2018 Proverbs 6:6.

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