Solomon Says...

Proverbs 12:

It appears righteousness vs. wickedness, use and abuse of words and diligence vs. laziness are some of the main themes in this chapter. Of course, we are in the heart of proverbs now, meaning there are a lot of different topics covered in each chapter. I was a little surprised by verse 10..."a righteous man cares for the need of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." Verses 9-11 are all talking about some fashion of providing needs. This may a good verse for the animal lovers out there. Imagine if you were out of food, who would be the last to eat? You wife? Your children? Hopefully, it would be your pet. Solomon is just letting us know that a righteous man is serious about providing for his family and even the animals are taken care of. Of course, some people care more about their pets than they do the family, but that's another story. I thought verse 15 was dead on. "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." Now, it would be easy to apply this verse to 'teens' but I think we've all been there and I'm sure we'll be there again in the future. It could be a job decision, dating decision, an item purchase...anything. Solomon says we can be so sure of something that it 'seems right'...key word being seems. That's a little scary when you start to think about. I think that's why we should never lead alone. We all lead in some area of life. It could be the job, home...wherever. Advice is always a good thing to go after. Many times people that are on the 'outside' can see better what needs to happen on the inside. So, next time you're sure about something, get a second or third opinion and go from there.