Proverbs
10
Verse 10:1 opens the fortune cookie chapters of Proverbs:
The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes his father glad,
but a foolish one fills his mother with sorrow.
These next few chapters are what is considered antithetical
parallelism, or the one line is positive and the other is the negative.
Interesting how the wise son makes dad happy, but the fool falls on mom. I like
this one since it highlights why wisdom is important, to make your parents
happy. Each of us have done things that have gotten our parents to get angry or
be filled with sadness … and some are still doing it in their 50’s.
Verse 10:4 talks about work:
A slack hand produces nothing
but poverty,
but an industrious hand soon takes
hold of riches.
Most Proverbs must be read and dwelled on for some time to
see how they apply to your life. Unfortunately they tend to become “one-liners”
and cliché’s rather than helpful adages. Think if you worked with a slacker and
just out of the blue shared this Proverb. Would the reaction be positive or
negative? What if you were the slacker, yet did not perceive it that way?
Solomon wrote these to get YOU introspectively reviewing your actions, not to
barf on others who desperately need them.
Verse 10:32 is the last in this chapter of gems:
The lips of the right-living
understand what is proper,
but the mouths of wrongdoers twist and pervert
the truth.
As with most of these one verse Proverbs this is a gem. Also,
it cannot be used “against” or “on” anyone else but oneself. I look at
politicians today and both parties can use this against the other, and I
believe both would believe in their heart they were “right-living”. Maybe in
tis example the “right-living” are not in politics? See this is where
introspective thought is necessary! We are all wrongdoers on some level, the
problem is do we twist the truth to our advantage.
I do often, without thinking. If I am caught, it’s a reflex
action to hunker-down in CYA mode. Katy catches me and I can never give a solid
answer to why I do it. I honestly don’t know when in my life I developed that
reflex, but it’s amazing how easy it is to engage. Fortunately, I am not good
at it so now I tend to be honest, except for stupid things like answering why I
went to QT. We must remember, twisting the truth be it where you were last
night or the candy bar you got at QT have the same eternal consequence.
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