Proverbs 28:22

Proverbs 28:22  He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him. Is it wrong to be rich? Of course not! But how did a person become rich? Did they earn their money? Or did they cheat and steal in order to get their money?And what do they do with their money? Do they just pile up their money just to have more money? Or do they use their money to do good things for others? In our verse if someone is in a hurry to get rich, they are getting money in the wrong way. If someone has and evil eye - they want more and more money - they are wicked. Someone who has a wicked desire for more and more money doesn't realize that if they cheat and steal, they will not be building friendships - they will be building enemies in business. And soon they themselves will be victims of cheating and stealing and their money will be gone. They will be poor because their goal is money and not helping others along the way. If a rich man can provide jobs for his employees, everyone is happy. If the rich man robs from his employees, everyone knows it and no one is happy. God blesses men who obey His Bible principles: do unto others as you would have others do unto you. What is that motto called? The Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is a good principle to live by. Can you say it from memory? Go ahead and try.

Proverbs 28:19

Proverbs 28:19  He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough. Do farmers have much to do in the wintertime? In the wintertime farmers fix their tractors and plows and get ready for springtime planting. As soon as the ground is warm enough, the farmer is working long hours to get his seeds into the ground so that they will begin to grow. But if the farmer is busy playing video games or texting on his cell phone, well he will not have his seeds in the ground in time. They will not grow into plants and not have corn or beans or tomatoes on them in the fall. If you hang around useless people - vain people - you will not get your work done because they will want you to play all day with them. The vain people don't worry about getting their work done and they don't care if you get yours done. Actually, they don't want you to get your work done because it will make them feel bad because they aren't doing their work. It is important that you have the right kind of friends - friends that help you and not hurt you. Do your work when you are supposed to. Then you will enjoy sitting back and relaxing. But do your work first!

Proverbs 28:18

Proverbs 28:18  Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once. What does walketh uprightly mean? There is an actual meaning, and there is the meaning that Solomon was talking about here in our verse. To walk uprightly is to walk like a human being and not like an animal on all fours. But that isn't really what Solomon is talking about in our proverb for today. The fellow in our picture is not walking very straight up, is he? He looks like he has a problem, doesn't he? Does he look discouraged? Does he look like he just got some bad news? Someone who trusts in God is confident and knows that everything will work out best for him because he is trusting in God. That person doesn't have to go around being discouraged. He is on the right side! The winning side! If you obey God and follow His words you can be confident that God will take care of you. You don't have to be discouraged like the man in our picture. You can be brave and bold because God is going to take care of you! But the fellow who does not follow God's ways - the fellow who does not walk uprightly before God - what does our verse say will happen to him? He will fall at once. He is headed for trouble. He will look like that sad fellow in our picture. Don't be discouraged. Don't fall. Trust in the good Lord! Be confident in God and stand up straight! God will take care of His children. Do you belong to God? If you do, great! If you don't, you should. Be on God's side and you can be happy as you trust in Him to take care of you.

Read Proverbs 28:13

Read Proverbs 28:13  Do you know the 10 Commandments?  Can you say some of them?  One commandment says that you should not lie.  If we try to cover up a sin, it is as if we are lying.  We are hiding the truth.  the Bible is clear.  We all make mistakes.  What is a mistake called in the Bible?  A sin.  We all sin.  But does that give us an excuse just because everyone is doing it?  When i was a young boy and I followed the crowd and did something wrong, I tried to use the excuse that everyone was doing it.  But that excuse never worked with my dad.  He would say, "If everyone jumped off of a cliff, would you jump too?"  Well we both knew the answer to that.  Of course not.  Just because we follow someone else does not make our sin any less of a sin.  And if we make excuses for our sin, we are trying to blame someone else for our mistakes.  A grown-up takes responsibility for their own actions.  They own up to their mistakes and admit when they are wrong.  So, we have two choices to make when we sin:  we can make excuses and blame other people, or we can admit that we were wrong and ask forgiveness for the wrong-doing.  That is what a mature person does.  They accept responsibility, they tell the truth, they admit that they were wrong, and they ask forgiveness.  They are honest and truthful and they never have to be sorry for how they live.  And our verse says that God will bless them and prosper them.  Be truthful and honest and God will bless you!

Read proverbs 28:9

Read Proverbs 28:9  Last Sunday we sang an old song in church.  The title of it was Trust and Obey.  The chorus went, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."  The song says that to be happy in Jesus, what two things must we do?  Yes, trust and obey Jesus.  If your mother asked you to carry out the trash, and you didn't do it, would you feel good about asking her a favor?  Would she be likely to grant you a favor if you hadn't obeyed her?  That is exactly what our verse is talking about.  We should obey God's laws.  When we come to God with a request, will he listen to us if we haven't obeyed His Words?  Will we feel guilty to ask God a request if we haven't obeyed His Words?  Neither of us will like the request.  So the best plan is to trust and obey to be happy.

Read Proverbs 28:7

Read Proverbs 28:7  Is your father proud of you of ashamed of you?  Whether your father is proud or ashamed of you is actually up to you.  If you are wise and obedient to God's rules, your father will be proud of you.  But if you are disobedient and hang around with evil buddies, your father will be embarrassed by you and will be ashamed of you.  So actually whether your father is proud or ashamed is up to you!  Your actions will make your father proud or embarrassed.  I hope you are a wise son or daughter so that your father can be proud of you!

Read Proverbs 28:4-6

Read Proverbs 28:4, 5, 6  These verses talk about wicked people and good people.  God blesses good people and punishes wicked people.  But that doesn't always mean that good people will always have a lot of money and wicked people will always be poor.  Sometimes God will bless good people and give them peace of mind and rest.  But wicked people are never at rest.  They have to always be worried that their lies and cheating actions and stolen things will be found out.  They can never have rest.  Verse six says that it is even better to be poor and good.  Even if you are poor, at least you can sleep good at night.  You have a clear conscience.  You know that you are right before God.  You have done right with other people.  You have God's peace and God's rest.