Proverbs 22:10-29

verse 10: “Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out, Even strife and dishonor will cease.”

One of my best friends introduced me to a collection of old Christian radio shows called Jungle Jam and Friends: Wild Times in God’s Creation. It’s a collection of humorous stories about a group of animals living together in the jungle, and learning lessons about God through their adventures. One of these stories was entitled “The Cat’s Pajamas”; it was about a sad kitten, whose sadness permeates the usual happiness of the group. They try to cheer the kitten up, but to no avail. Soon they’re all sad, and don’t know why! It’s not till Gruffy Bear, returning from doing his laundry, produces a pair of pajamas that shrunk in the wash; the kitten is happy to see these. It turns out the kitten was cranky because he couldn’t get to sleep and had misplaced his pajamas…Gruffy gives him his shrunken pair. The kitten puts them on and drifts happily off to sleep.

Much like the sad kitten, whose sadness permeated everyone’s happiness, can be the poisonous attitude of the scoffer or mocker. For someone to do nothing more than to cast negative attitudes or remarks all the time can really sour the atmosphere of most people. One person’s attitude can do that, much like just a little of a black widow’s venom can do serious damage to a healthy body. Solomon’s advice here is to drive the scoffer out. I have seen examples where, once the scoffer was removed, a lot more peace resulted. God doesn’t want us to live in strife; He wants us to live in peace. He wants us to know His peace.

Have a great day in the Lord!

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Proverbs 22:6-9

verse 6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Say yes ma’am, no ma’am.
Pick up your toys.
Eat all the food on your plate.

When we are young, most children are taught lessons by their parents that they should carry with them throughout life.

Make up your bed.
Brush your teeth.
Take a bath (and use soap!)
Put on clean clothes.

In most cases, these lessons include manners, basic hygiene, and courtesy (some of these are specific for men, since that is my point of view).

Hold the door open for a lady.
Don’t interrupt someone when they are talking.
Make sure your date is home by her curfew…then you get home by your curfew!
Act like a gentleman.

Some lessons get forgotten, but you hope, as a parent, that most of the good ones are retained.

Go to church and Sunday school.
Read your Bible.
Pray to God.
Give to your church.

As parents, we have a tremendous responsibility to “train up a child in the way he should go”; children only grow up once, so time is of the essence. We’re always learning as well, so as you go about your life today, ask the Lord for wisdom in what to teach your children. Children will learn…the question remains, what are they learning?

Something to think about.

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Proverbs 22:2-5

verse 2: “The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all.”

What do Bill Gates, President Barack Obama, George Washington Carver, Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, James Crudup, Derek Fisher, Peyton Manning, you, and I have in common? Well, the named figures have all appeared on television (unless you have appeared on TV, and I don’t know about it. :-); I’ve been on a local TV interview once, for the record).

James Crudup, by the way, is a name to have appeared in current events; he’s the man who was recently arrested after he jumped over the White House fence. I heard Crudup’s interview he did with a local TV station as to why he jumped over the fence; his main claim is that he is drawing attention to his plight of being an unemployed contractor who cannot find work due to being “labeled”. That statement did get me to thinking about how society does tend to label human beings….rich, poor, employed, jobless, homeowner, homeless, race, religion, political affiliation, etc. Sometimes those labels have negative connotations; I’ve read news reports recently of where some firms have been discriminating against applicants, if those applicants were currently unemployed! That’s an interesting irony: you try to apply for a job, but because you don’t have a job to begin with, you won’t be considered for hiring?

Going back to my first question: what do all these people have in common? They were all created by God…yep, even atheists were created by God (whether they admit who their Maker is or not!) No matter who you are, or what background you come from, or what you have done…there will be only one label you’ll be known by when you answer the question in eternity as to why you should get into Heaven. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are saved…not lost. You’ll be eternally with God in Heaven…or you’ll be eternally separated from God in Hell.

Something to think about.

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