PROVERBS: WISDOM & WORK
Message by Josh Mutter – August 13, 2023
Big Idea: A healthy relationship with work will be life-giving.
Lesson 1: There is great potential in being diligent in our work.
a) Diligence in our work provides for our needs.
Proverbs 28:19 NIV Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.
b) Diligence in our work is essential to achieving our dreams.
Proverbs 22:29 NIV Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.
c) Lack of diligence in our work can result in regret.
Proverbs 12:24 NIV Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labour.
Proverbs 14:23 NIV All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Lesson 2: Having a right relationship with our work requires knowing where the “gutters” are.
a) Beware of the enemies of contentment.
Proverbs 15:16 NIV Better to have little, with fear of the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.
Proverbs 13:4a NIV A sluggard’s appetite is never filled …
b) Beware of the temptation to try to do it all.
Proverbs 23:4 NIV Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.
Proverbs 24:27 NIV Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.
Proverbs 10:26 NIV As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them.
c) Beware of our tendency to justify our actions (or inaction).
Proverbs 26:13 NIV A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
Proverbs 26:16 NIV A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer discreetly.
Colossians 3:17 NIV And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…
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