Power Of Proverbs

Key Scripture:  “These are the wise sayings…written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it is going. “ Proverbs 1, The Message

Powerful Points:

     I’ve always loved reading The Message. Eugene Petersen has taken the scriptures and put them beautifully in today’s vernacular.  It seems to make them really easy to apply. 

     As I was reading through the book of Proverbs recently, I discovered that The Message, while intensely moving can also be extremely funny.  These are some of those proverbs:

-Never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.  (I TOLD you so!)

-You don’t want to end your life full of regrets, nothing but sin and bones.

-The wise accumulate wisdom; fools get stupider by the day.

-First pride, then the crash- the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.

-Having a fool for a child is misery; it’s no fun being the parent of a dolt.

-Even dunces who keep quiet are thought to be wise; as long as they keep their mouths shut, they’re smart.

-The words of a fool start fights; do him a favor and gag him.

-Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you really want that junk in your belly?

-People ruin their lives by their own stupidity; so why does God always get blamed. 

-When you’re down on your luck, even your family avoids you-yes, even your best friends wish you’d get lost.

-Blockheads shouldn’t live on easy street any more than workers should give orders to their boss.

-Wine makes you mean, beer makes you quarrelsome-a staggering drunk is not much fun. 

-Valuables are safe in a wise person’s home, fools put it all out for yard sales.

-Religious performance by the wicked stinks; it’s even worse when they use it to get ahead.

-If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.

-A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle.

-A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie, but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth.

 -Don’t call attention to yourself; let others do that for you.

    And my favorite:  "If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure."

Power Thought:

Just one more:  "Don’t wander off from your mother’s teachings."  (It really does say that!)