Willful stupidity and laziness make me livid.
Here
are some things I've read today. I
found these scriptures interesting and insightful.
Lazy
people are soon poor; hard workers
get rich.
- Proverbs 10:4
Lazy people irritate their employers,
like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes.
- Proverbs 10:26
(insert family, friends, etc in place of employers)
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.
- Proverbs 12:24
(What enslaves you?)
Lazy people don’t even cook the game they
catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find.
- Proverbs 12:27
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
- Proverbs 6:6
Lazy
people
want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.
- Proverbs 13:4
A lazy person’s way is blocked with briers, but the path of the upright is an
open highway.
- Proverbs 15:19
(Life is so much easier when you free yourself from briers trapping you from truly living.)
A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.
- Proverbs 18:9
(Many times a lazy person transforms into a person who destroys things...)
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I've
included a passage from Psalms about people who lie and follow evil. It
reminds me of God's faithfulness to His followers and vengeance to
those who choose not to follow Him.
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Doeg the Edomite said to Saul, “David has gone to see Ahimelech.”
1 Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?
Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?
2 All day long you plot destruction.
Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor;
you’re an expert at telling lies.
3 You love evil more than good
and lies more than truth.
4 You love to destroy others with your words,
you liar!
5 But God will strike you down once and for all.
He will pull you from your home
and uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The righteous will see it and be amazed.
They will laugh and say,
7 “Look what happens to mighty warriors
who do not trust in God.
They trust their wealth instead
and grow more and more bold in their wickedness.”
8 But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
9 I will praise you forever, O God,
for what you have done.
I will trust in your good name
in the presence of your faithful people.
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This Proverb has always encouraged me to do good and seek wisdom.
Proverbs 4
1 My children, listen when your father corrects you.
Pay attention and learn good judgment,
2 for I am giving you good guidance.
Don’t turn away from my instructions.
3 For I, too, was once my father’s son,
tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.
4 My father taught me,
“Take my words to heart.
Follow my commands, and you will live.
5 Get wisdom; develop good judgment.
Don’t forget my words or turn away from them.
6 Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you.
Love her, and she will guard you.
7 Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!
And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.
8 If you prize wisdom, she will make you great.
Embrace her, and she will honor you.
9 She will place a lovely wreath on your head;
she will present you with a beautiful crown.”
10 My child, listen to me and do as I say,
and you will have a long, good life.
11 I will teach you wisdom’s ways
and lead you in straight paths.
12 When you walk, you won’t be held back;
when you run, you won’t stumble.
13 Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go.
Guard them, for they are the key to life.
14 Don’t do as the wicked do,
and don’t follow the path of evildoers.
15 Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way.
Turn away and keep moving.
16 For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day.
They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.
17 They eat the food of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence!
18 The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like total darkness.
They have no idea what they are stumbling over.
20 My child, pay attention to what I say.
Listen carefully to my words.
21 Don’t lose sight of them.
Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
22 for they bring life to those who find them,
and healing to their whole body.
23 Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.
24 Avoid all perverse talk;
stay away from corrupt speech.
25 Look straight ahead,
and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
26 Mark out a straight path for your feet;
stay on the safe path.
27 Don’t get sidetracked;
keep your feet from following evil.
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This
passage reminds me of the judgment disobedient people endure when they
choose to follow their own desires rather than following God's
commands.
Jeremiah 9
1 If only my head were a pool of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
for all my people who have been slaughtered.
2 Oh, that I could go away and forget my people
and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert.
For they are all adulterers—
a pack of treacherous liars.
3 “My people bend their tongues like bows
to shoot out lies.
They refuse to stand up for the truth.
They only go from bad to worse.
They do not know me,”
says the LORD.
4 “Beware of your neighbor!
Don’t even trust your brother!
For brother takes advantage of brother,
and friend slanders friend.
5 They all fool and defraud each other;
no one tells the truth.
With practiced tongues they tell lies;
they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
6 They pile lie upon lie
and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,”
says the LORD.
7 Therefore, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says:
“See, I will melt them down in a crucible
and test them like metal.
What else can I do with my people?
8 For their tongues shoot lies like poisoned arrows.
They speak friendly words to their neighbors
while scheming in their heart to kill them.
9 Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD.
“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?”
10 I will weep for the mountains
and wail for the wilderness pastures.
For they are desolate and empty of life;
the lowing of cattle is heard no more;
the birds and wild animals have all fled.
11 “I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,” says the LORD.
“It will be a place haunted by jackals.
The towns of Judah will be ghost towns,
with no one living in them.”
12
Who is wise enough to understand all this? Who has been instructed by
the LORD and can explain it to others? Why has the land been so ruined
that no one dares to travel through it?
13 The LORD replies, “This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said. 14 Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them. 15
So now, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,
says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to
drink. 16 I will scatter
them around the world, in places they and their ancestors never heard
of, and even there I will chase them with the sword until I have
destroyed them completely."
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Tonight
we have a 30% chance of snow with no significant snow accumulation.
This makes me happy even if we won't be able to see any snow on the
ground. I'm just ready for winter weather and the slight prospect of
snow.
Here's a cute picture of our house from last year when it snowed.
Much love,
Em
