Read Proverbs 24:19&20  Sometimes we are frustrated in doing the right things.  We have to do so many things.  We have to make our beds.  We have to do our school work and do our house work.  We have to set the table and take out the trash and feed the dog and…  well you understand.  Often we see a friend of ours who doesn’t have to do very much around the house.  They may not have to do chores or make their beds every day.  Their mother is easy on them.  Often we are jealous of them.  The word used here in our first verse is envious.  Envious means that we wish we were in their place.  But remember, your friend will grow up lazy and will not know how to work.  We need to learn how to work when we are young so that when we grow up into a man or woman, we know how to work.  Growing up lazy is one thing, but growing up wicked is far worse.  Our second verse says that there is a sad day coming for the wicked man.  Solomon uses an example of a candle.  Just like we snuff out the flame of a candle before we go to bed at night, the wicked will be snuffed out some day and be gone.  There is a reward for someone who obeys God, but there is no reward for someone who does not serve God.  Remember to trust God and you’ll never be sorry that you did!

Read Proverbs 24:17&18  Are you happy when your friend messes up or do you feel sorry for them?  But what about someone that you do not like?  When they mess up are you secretly happy?  Down inside, are you glad to see them mess up?  Our verses remind us to be careful because God is watching.  God knows our heart.  And God loves the person that we may not like as much as He loves us.  God wants everyone to be saved and to know how to live with Him in heaven.  God reminds us in our verses that we should not rejoice when our enemy messes up.  God wants us to be kind to our enemies as much as we are kind to our friends.  Although that is hard to do, that attitude is more God-like.  As we behave more like God and love everyone, we please God.  I love Sophie and Will and Mary Kate.  When they fuss with each other, I am not happy.  I like when they get along with each other.  That is how God feels towards us.  We should try to love one another and make God happy.  We should love our friends and we should love our enemies.  This makes God happy!

Read proverbs 24:16  How do you feel when you mess up?  What do you say when you have done something wrong?  Do you try to cover up your mistake?  Or do you try to blame someone else for your mistake?  When we make a mistake, we should admit that we have made the mistake.  We should take responsibility and apologize for it.  We should ask forgiveness from the one that we have offended.  Instead of making excuses, we should own up to our failures like a grown-up.  We should not be like the wicked person in our verse who falls into mischief.  We should be like the just man in our verse.  When the just man fell down, what does our verse say that he did?  And when the just man fell down again, what does our verse say that he did?  Our verse says that the just man fell down how many times?  But our verse says that the just man got right up again and again.  Every time he messed up, he apologized and got right up again.  Don’t give in to mischief like the wicked man.  Ask forgiveness over and over if you have to.  Be like the just man.  God is on the side of the just man.  Are you on God’s side?

Read Proverbs 24: 11&12  There are two groups of people mentioned in our verses for today: those who are drawn into death and us.  You may say, “I don’t know anyone who is about to be killed today.  How does this verse apply to me?  I am just a kid.”  Well, that may be true.  You may not know anyone who is in danger of being killed today.  But you may know people who do not know Jesus Christ.  You may know people who are not Christians.  These people are in a dangerous place.  If they were to die today, where would they spend eternity?  Hell is a terrible place.  That is why we do not use the word hell in every day language.  Using the word hell is not very nice.  Using the word hell is bad language and you should not say hell just as a word.  Hell is a terrible place and we should do what we can to warn people about not going there.  So, in the spiritual sense, we may know people who are, as our verses say, drawn unto death.  And our verses say that it is our responsibility to warn them about the danger that they are facing.  If we try to say, we didn’t know that they were facing death, verse 12 says that God knows our hearts.  He knows that we know.  In Genesis 4 after Cain’s offering of vegetables was refused by God, Cain got mad.  He didn’t like that his brother Abel’s animal offering was accepted by God.  Cain was jealous of his brother and rose up and killed him.  When God asked Cain about his brother, Cain tried to say that he wasn’t responsible for his brother.  He said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he said to God.  But God knew.  God knew the wicked thing that Cain had done.  And back in Proverbs 24:12 we are reminded that we are responsible for our fellow humans.  We know how to get to heaven and they don’t!  Let’s not be like Cain and try to get out of our responsibility.  Let’s follow what God says in Proverbs 24: 11&12.  Let’s help to warn those who may be facing death.  We need to warn them because they don’t know the dangerous situation that they are in.  And we know the good news of how to get to heaven.  That is our job.  That is our responsibility.

Read Proverbs 24:10  Like yesterday, our verse talks about war.  If you are a soldier or a king like David, you have to prepare for war.  If you just sit around the campfire and talk about fighting, when the fighting does come, you won’t be ready.  A soldier has to be ready when the time comes to fight.  Every day the soldier has to run and exercise, and practice fighting with your friends.  If a soldier doesn’t build up his strength and work on his battle skills, when the day of battle finally does come, he will not be ready.  He will just faint when the heat of battle is all around him.  Just like the soldier in our verse, we have to be ready for our war.  We must be prepared to do battle against Satan.  In order to prepare, we need to read our Bibles and memorize Scripture.  Satan will come against us with slick lies and tricks.  Just like a soldier needs to be ready for the day of battle, we must be ready when the time comes to do battle against Satan, our enemy.  If we prepare beforehand and put on God’s armor, we will not faint in our battle against Satan.

Read Proverbs 24:5&6  Solomon was a wealthy and wise king.  But he was able to enjoy a peaceful time as king because his father, David, had fought many wars to leave a strong country to his son.  But our verses remind us that David didn’t just get mad at the neighboring country and go to war with them.  David asked for the advice of his trusted generals.  Did they have enough soldiers to defeat the enemy?  Did they need more chariots?  Did they need to train more archers?  Did they have enough food to last for the intended battles?  Should they attack right away before the enemy had time to get ready or should they wait until the next year when David’s army was better prepared?  David put all of these questions to his generals, and then he listened carefully to what each of them had to say.  He listened and then made his decision.  After hearing from everyone, David was able to make the right decision.  Before we make an important decision, remember verse 6.  If you ask several people give you good advice, and you listen, you can make the right decision.

Read Proverbs 24:3&4  Our two verses are talking about an analogy.  An analogy is a story that teaches us a life lesson.  It is like a parable.  In the New Testament, Jesus taught the people by giving them parables.  One of His parables was about a farmer who went out to sow seed.  As this farmer cast the seed out onto the field, the seed fell upon four types of soil:  Rocky soil, hard soil, soil with thorns growing in it, and good soil.  The point of Jesus’ parable was to liken the different types of soil to the different kinds of people who hear a message from God.  Not everyone who hears the message listens to the message.  If you listen to God’s Word, you are like the good soil.  In verse 3 Solomon says that if we have wisdom our lives will be successful just like a house that is built.  Our lives will be established and will be successful if we have understanding.  If we have knowledge, all kinds of good things happen in our lives, just like a beautiful house has all kinds of fine furniture in it.  If we live a life that pleases God, people will want to be around us, just like a wonderful house that is filled with pleasant furniture makes you happy to be living there.  On a cold winter night, isn’t it great to come in from the outside to a warm inviting home?  Are our lives inviting others to be near to God?  I hope so.