Let’s Get Started

Sometimes proverbs are like riddles—you need to ponder them to understand their true meaning. A sensible person will take the time to unpack these riddles and apply them to their everyday life.

Remember Family Values

Over and over in Scripture we read that children have one responsibility in their families—to obey their parents. The world would be a much better place if children were instructed well by their parents and responded obediently to their instructions. Much of today’s crime and violence can be traced back to the home where good examples and teaching were absent or where the children were disobedient.

Turn Down the Volume

I remember once walking down Hollywood Boulevard and seeing a street preacher standing on a box shouting at the top of his lungs, “You must be born again!” He had a thundering voice like a built in loudspeaker, but the noise of the traffic and the bustle of the people drowned him out. The louder he shouted, the less people paid attention. He was just another source of noise.

I Told You So

My father used to tell me, “You reap what you sow.” I didn’t know he was telling me a biblical principle. I thought maybe it was an African proverb or something he made up. He would explain that when a farmer plants corn, he doesn’t grow a crop of strawberries—he grows corn. He told me that when I sowed stupidity or a lack of common sense, I would grow a harvest of calamity. It made sense to him, but it didn’t make any sense to me.

Good Old Common Sense

“The more I live, the more I’m convinced that common sense is becoming a lost art, and that if I fail to keep up with what’s going on in the world around me, I can be part of the problem!

In the age of modern technology, the buzzword is “intuitive.” A tablet salesman told me, “This piece of technology is intuitive. Just follow your common sense and it will be easy to use.”

Good Advice

There is an old adage that says, “If you want knowledge, go to college. If you want wisdom, go to God.” Solomon understood this truth when he asked God for the gift of wisdom over and above all other gifts.

I’ve learned that knowledge can take a lot of time and work to attain while wisdom is more like a gift that is bestowed upon you.

Wisdom Trumps Knowledge

Wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing, although they are closely related and often inseparable. Knowledge comes from education, while wisdom comes from experience. Wisdom is knowing how to apply the knowledge we derive from learning.

Protect Yourself

I’ve met people who travel on the “get rich quick” highway of life. They apply a considerable amount of energy in circumventing the system—eagerly looking for shortcuts to success. I often wonder what would happen if they applied the same energy to an honest work ethic. My hunch is they would be more successful than they imagine.

These types of people often fall prey to Ponzi schemes, fraud and extortion as they trade wisdom and common sense for cheap advice and get-rich-quick schemes

Read More dishonesty, success, con artist

Read the Road Signs

Smooth talkers come in both genders. They are clever and deceitful and their advice can be fatal. Following their counsel could lead to your peril.

Read More protection, direction, smooth talk

The Carpenter’s File

Common sense can be intuitive or it can come from experience and pain. That’s why it’s so important in raising children to help them learn through a combination of both instruction and experience. When I was a young boy, it seemed that I often had to learn lessons the hard way.