Proverbs 29:18

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. What is the job of a good boss? What is the job of a good employee? Employees have to be at work on time and be ready to do what the boss asks them to do. Bosses, however, have to be at work early and the have to leave late. The boss has to get the work ready for their employees before the employees get to work. The boss has to think ahead and has to plan for each day and the next week, and the next month, and the next year. They have to think about the future. But the employee only has to show up on time and be ready to work. They do not have to think ahead. Our verse talks about a vision. Vision means to plan ahead and to be able to picture in your mind the way you want things to be in the future. So a good boss has to have a vision for his employees.  But what does a work vision have to do with keeping the law? Just as a good boss is thinking about a few years ahead, he is also thinking about the eternal future of his employees. If a boss is a Christian and sets a good example before his employees, his employees will think about their eternal soul and how they should live their lives. So a Christian boss is planning for his employees' eternal future as well. We are all examples each day. But the question is, are you a good example or a bad example? That is hard. But if we learn to be a good example now, we can be a good example of a good boss in the future. Is God pleased with our example? I hope so.

Read Proverbs 29:17

Proverbs 29:17  Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. It seems like we just talked about correction. Oh, we did.I suppose that Solomon had a naughty son and he had to talk about correction several times. Could it be that our parents have naughty children as well? No, I am sure our parents have little angels for children. No. not quite! Romans 3:23 says that we are all sinners. So we need to spend some more time on correction. I think that children are like a garden. If you work and pull out the weeds when the garden plants are little, your garden will grow well. But if you don't work early and pull out those weeds, the weeds will take over the garden and the weeds will choke out the vegetable plants. If you wait around and neglect your garden, later in the summer will be too late! The good plants will be smothered out and gone! the only thing left in your garden will be ugly, useless weeds. Our verse says that if we correct our son - and daughter - They will grow up good and will give us rest. Here it goes: I am glad that my mother corrected me. And I am glad that your mother corrected you! really - it was for the best.

Proverbs 29:15

Proverbs 29:15  The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Oh no! Here is one of those correction verses. But, we have to deal with it. Oh well. I remember getting into trouble when I was a kid. Actually, I still get into trouble! When I disobeyed, my mother spoke to me and told me that I was being naughty. If I continued to ignore her warnings, she had to give me a spanking. My mother used little thin switches. You might not think that a thin switch is effective, but it is. Trust me! It usually only took one lash and I would remember what I should have remembered before. It is funny how a little switch helped me remember! As I got older and was tempted to do wrong things, I would hear my mother warning me in my head. She was not around, but I remembered her warnings and I had learned to do right. Those switchings helped me to learn to be obedient and to do right. My mother has said many times that she is proud of me. But actually, she is the one who formed me into the man that I am. She formed me when I was a little boy. If she would not have corrected me, I would have grown up being selfish and strong-willed. And I would be a man that my mother would be ashamed of. We all need correction. We need to grow up and to make our parents proud and not make them ashamed.

Proverbs 29:13

Proverbs 29:13 The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes. This is an interesting verse. I tried and tried to think of how a poor person and a liar are connected - how they meet together. But I just couldn't make the connection. That is because there isn't a connection. Well, actually there is: The connection is found in the last half of our verse. You see, whatever your problem; whatever your need; whatever difficulty you find yourself in; the answer is the same: the Lord. For every question in life, there is only one answer.  For every need in life, there is only one solution. Jesus Christ is the answer; Jesus Christ is our helper. Jesus Christ is everything! He is the answer to every question! What a friend we have in Jesus!

Proverbs 29:12

Proverbs 29:12 If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked. If a boss is an honest man, he will usually hire honest workers. But if a boss is a dishonest man, he will hire crooks to work with him. Why? Because he himself is a crook! There is a story told of Cyrus McCormick, a businessman and inventor of the McCormick reaper of years ago. Mr. McCormick had huge farm operations and had many men working for him. One day he was inspecting the scale house where wagons crossed the scales and were weighed. The weigh master - the man in charge of weighing the wagons - told Mr. McCormick, "I got you good weight today, boss!" What he meant was that he was cheating the wagon owners and telling them that their wagons weighed less than they really did. The weigh master was cheating for his boss, Mr. McCormick. But that evening when the men got off work, the weigh master found a note in his pay envelope that stated that he was fired. The other men were surprised and one of them asked Mr. McCormick why he had fired the weigh master who had actually gotten more money for him. Mr. McCormick replied, "Anyone who will steal for me will also steal from me. I will not have a thief working for me." Cyrus McCormick proved that our verse is true. Honest Bosses attract honest workers and wicked bosses attract wicked workers.

Proverbs 29:11

Proverbs 29:11 A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. Have you ever known a person who couldn't keep a secret? Our verse is talking about just such a person. They will blurt out the secret even when they aren't supposed to tell anyone else. When I was a little boy, there was a program on TV just about the time that I would get home from school. If I promised my mother to get right onto my homework after the show was over, she would let me watch it. It was called Art Linkletter's House Party. They had several things on it that were interesting. They always had a group of 5 children on the program from an area preschool. Art Linkletter would interview the children and ask them questions. The questions were funny and the children's answers were even funnier! One question he would ask was, "What did your mother tell you not to say?" And the children would tell him what their mother had told them not to tell him. Those children were innocent, but that is exactly what our verse is talking about. Instead of thinking first, the children would say exactly what they were not supposed to say. If they would have thought first, they would not have told Art Linkletter anything. But, of course, that wouldn't have been funny. And fools are like little children - neither of them are careful about what they say. And both of them tell their whole mind. But what about a wise man? Well he guards his words and keeps quiet. So, what have we learned? Our verse, the Bible, says that someone who just speak right out loud his whole mind, what is he? But someone who keeps his words under control, what is he? Think about that! Guard your words. If you guard your words, you are wise. If you don't . . . Oh well.

Proverbs 29:6

Proverbs 29:6  In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice. Our verse tells us that there is a big difference between an evil man and a good man: the evil man is always afraid of the future. If he lies, he is afraid that someone will find out about his lie. If the evil man steals, he is afraid that someone will find out about the thing that he has stolen. Just like the animal is caught in the trap, the evil man is afraid he is going to be caught. But he doesn't realize that he is already caught! God already knows, and Satan has already tricked the evil man and has trapped him! But how about the righteous man? The good man? He has nothing to be afraid of! He is honest and has nothing to hide. He can sing and be happy all day long. He can go to bed at night in peace and not worry about anything. He will live forever in heaven with God! The evil man is afraid but the good man is relaxed and unafraid. So, which one would you rather be like? The evil man or the good man? Then obey God and trust in Him. You will never be sorry that you did!