Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

“This Book of Proverbs is so called, because it consists of wise and weighty sentences: regulating the morals of men: and directing them to wisdom and virtue. And these sentences are also called PARABLES, because great truths are often couched in them under certain figures and similitudes.” quote

Reading through the 31 chapters of Proverbs each month can give us an understanding of how to serve God.

Proverbs 3:4

⁴ The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

Industry: Skill, ingenuity; habitual diligence in any employment or pursuit; steady attention to business; assiduity. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary

Industry, as defined, is an often considered subject in Proverbs. In Proverbs 6:6-11, labor is illustrated, demanded, and its failure described.

⁶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise.

⁷ Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,

⁸she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
⁹ How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

In Proverbs 13:4 the eternal principle of labor is stated. The industrious man prospers. Any other person is prosperous only to the degree of his labor. Proverbs 14:23 “In All labor there is profit”. Galatians 6:7 “ whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”. Paul’s application of this spiritual effect does not change the principle as such.

We can say with Biblical certainty that all our conduct in this world is governed by the Law of God. Where in the Law do we find a principle of labor? It is stated plainly in the fourth commandment. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work.” The fact of labor is stated, and adequate time to accomplish it is described.

What this commandment does not do is determine the hours of a legal work week, whether it be 35 or 40 or 60. Neither does it have anything to say about retirement. The work day and work week are simply defined by the principle that the work of day is to be done in the day.

Retirement is determined by a person’s ability to do the requirements of their vocation as is illustrated by the retirement of the Levites in Numbers 8:23-26.