Category: Work

Get Ready to Build Your House – Proverbs 24

The proverb I found for today, January 24, makes me think of my ancestors coming to the Northwest during the 1800s in a covered wagon to start a new life. They followed this principle.

“Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.” Proverbs 24:27 NIV

Get Ready to Build Your House
Log cabin to illustrate Get Ready to Build Your House, Proverbs 24

It only makes sense, after all. Get settled in your work, lay some savings aside for the future (planting your crops), then build your house (settle in permanently).

The following verses are a clear warning against laziness. If I don’t work, I’ll come into poverty. Another lesson I learn here is to be observant and learn from the others’ mistakes.

“I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.

“I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” 24:30-34

by Kathy Sheldon Davis

The Wise Think – Proverbs 14

I was told by a frustrated supervisor, “Kathy, you think too much.” She found it impossible to accept that people’s strengths that were different from hers had value, so I learned to understand her misunderstanding me. Thinking things through helped me to be a better employee, produce better results and feel better about the work. In contemplating Proverbs 14, these verses caught my attention.

“The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” Proverbs 14:8 NIV.

“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.” 14:15

I like the proverbs that compare opposite values. For instance, the wise do this, but the foolish do that. This makes what’s being said more clear to me. The first scripture shows that the foolish do not give thought to their ways but instead live in deception.

One of my favorites, for honorable mention:

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” 14:23

This might be a great one to use in the workplace where more and more texting (“mere talk”) is happening during work hours. This would definitely lead to poverty! It’s better to work hard, always looking for ways to improve, because that brings a profit.

by Kathy Sheldon Davis