Proverbs for Daily Life

The Book of Proverbs Chapter 20
(Please read the entire chapter of lovely proverbs. I will comment on a few verses with the help of my NLT Bible.)

Verse 3: Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist in quarreling.
(A person who is confident of his strength, need not parade it. A brave person does not look for chances to prove it. Foolish people find it impossible to avoid strife.)


Verse 4: If you are too lazy to plow in the right season, you will have no food at the harvest. (Similar warnings have been published, like the Ant and the Grasshopper. God expects us to anticipate future needs and prepare for them. He can't come to our rescue when we cause our own problems through lack of planning. He expects us to be responsible.)


Verse 19: A gossip tells secets, so don't hang around with someone who talks too much. (Gossip is contagious. Don't let it snare you.)


Verse 23: The Lord despises double standards; he is not pleased by dishonest scales. ( "Scales" refers to scales a merchant might use to cheat customers. Dishonesty affects the very core of a person and makes him untrustworthy and untrusting. It eventually makes him unable to relate to others or himself.)


Verse 25: It is dangerous to make a rash promise to God before counting the cost. (God takes vows seriously and requires them to be carried out. It is best not to make promises to please God, because he knows how difficullt they are to keep.)


HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? I hope you are beginning to see how this book of Proverbs is a list of common sense things which are as relevant today as when they were written many centuries ago. I am as guilty as the rest of you in keeping the verse 25, which talks about making rash vows. If you feel it important to make a vow, make sure you consider the consequences of breaking it. Remember in the book of Judges 11, Jephthah made a rash promise to sacrifice the first thing he saw on his return trip home. As it happened, the first thing he saw was his daughter. This is a lesson for all of us to consider before we make a rash vow.


Yours in Christ,
Mary


Prayer Requests are needed for:
HEALTH: Pray for Gabe.
Pray for Janice Long’s parents, especially her mother who faces another round of chemotherapy and her father with Alzheimer’s and now her mother in law also with Alzheimer’s. Their family is feeling the strain both emotionally and financially. Pray for them. Update on this family: Her mother-in-law is being taken to Oklahoma to live with an aunt who will care for her.
Pray for Arlene’s nephew David and for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life.
Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer.
Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with MS.
UPDATE on Barb who went in for back surgery and had a heart attack and stroke, she has her speech back and is home , but continues to have a problem with one arm and hand. Thanks to your prayers, she is able to hobble without a cane and has been granted disability. She still has surgery scheduled on her hand, but I saw her recently and her attitude is fantastic.
Pray for Robert Sargent who is quite ill with lung cancer.
Pray for Gary Summers, my friend from church, who has cancer.
Pray for Judy’s husband who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Pray for her too, that she can deal with the side effects of his illness.
Pray too for Charly’s husband Robert who is undergoing chemo for his prostate cancer. Update on Robert: he has one more treatment and then three months of waiting for his psat test to come back clean.
Pray for John’s recovery from a heart attack and for the doctors who have difficulty diagnosing his other symptoms.
Pray for James’s sister Cynthia whose chemo has lost its effect as the cancer grows powerful.
Pray for another friend named Carolyn whose faith remains strong, but is lost and confused about where and how to spend her elder years.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary
RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John
LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian
SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states and Joplin, Missouri. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.