Posted on 09/19/2020 5:17:27 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth” (Proverbs 19:1-2).
There are three axioms here in verses 1-3.
The first, in verse 1 is that it is better to be poor and have character. There is absolutely no substitute for character. Character is all-important in the life of people. American people are by and large a people without character. A person with character is a person that has the ability to do right even when they don’t want to, or don’t feel like it. Character is what a man or a woman is when no one is watching.
This is why a child doesn’t have any character. You will meet very few children that will always do what they are supposed to do when no one is standing over them. They’ll usually start a project and be excited about it at the beginning, but it isn’t very long-lasting. They need a push by an adult. Well, if you keep giving them that needed push whenever they need it, and they keep completing every job they start, in about 18-20 years, it becomes part of their character. Their character will be like an inner parent pushing them to finish.
This is what is behind verses such as this: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). This does not only apply to spiritual lessons, but practical as well. Raise up your children with a good, healthy work ethic. Make him do right. He likely won’t do it on his own, so make him do the right things.
The second axiom is that for a soul to be without knowledge is not good. You would be better off without every but that.
The third axiom is “he that hasteth with his feet sinneth,” some people are in a hurry to make the big bucks and are in a hurry to make a big name for themselves, but it is better to slow down and get to know God. If those others things are right, God will bring them to pass.
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