Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 680 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Good Words, Bad Work - Proverbs 24


Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 681 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 24 from The Voice Translation which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since Paula and I will be traveling for business the last half of August and I am recording all these podcasts in advance, we will be substituting our regular podcast with short Wisdom Nugget episodes for three weeks, except for our Wisdom Wednesday episodes. After that, we will return to our regular format.

Today in Proverbs 24 we will learn...
Good Words, Bad Work
The first half of this chapter (1-22) contains the final twelve of the "Thirty Sayings of the Wise." The “do not” theme from Chapter 23 continues here: don’t envy (1), don’t lie (15), and so on (see verses 17, 19, 21). Wisdom is often measured by self-control; desire is managed by discipline.

Again, the voice of the father is imploring us to take this seriously. Notice the wisdom of Proverbs is laced with parental care, nurture, and love? The next time the Lord tells you “Do Not,” please remember that it stems from a heart of Fatherly love.

At verse 23 a new, small collection begins called “The Wise Also Say” (verses 23-34). Here are the main ideas of this small collection:

Verses 23b-25, Just judgment
Verse 26, Good words
Verse 27, Good work
Verses 28-29, Bad words
Verses 30-34, Bad work

Verses 23b-25 prepare us to recognize good from bad in both words and work. If you think about it, words and work are the sum total of a person’s life, and they determine the quality of that life. If you were to measure your life with these sayings, how would you fare?Listen intently as I read Proverbs 24.

1 Do not envy evil people
or seek their friendship;
2 For they are conniving and violent,
and all they talk about is causing trouble.

3 Wisdom is required to build a house;
understanding is necessary to make it secure.
4 Knowledge is needed to furnish all the rooms
and fill them with beautiful treasures.
5 A wise man possesses great strength,
and an intelligent man knows how to increase it;
6 For with wise guidance, you can wage a successful war,
and with a council of many advisors, you will be victorious!
7 Fools can’t grab hold of wisdom; it’s out of their reach;
they dare not open their mouths in public for no one would listen anyway.

8 Whoever schemes to carry out evil
will be labeled a troublemaker.
9 Such foolish plans are sinful,
and the mocker is deplored by all.

10 If you fall apart during a crisis,
then you weren’t very strong to begin with.
11 Rescue everyone you can of those being taken away and killed,
and hold on to those innocent souls staggering toward their own slaughter.
12 If you excuse yourself, saying, “Look, we didn’t know anything about this,”
doesn’t God, who knows what you are really thinking, understand your motives?
Isn’t your Protector aware of why you aren’t protecting the innocent?
Will He not repay you in kind?

13 My son, eat honey—it’s good for you;
the honey that drips from the comb is sweet in your mouth.
14 Know, too, that wisdom is good for your soul:
if you find it,