Proverb of the Day

Growing up, my mom was a wealth of Proverbs. She had a verse for everything. I mean, EVERYTHING. You want to sleep in--there's a verse for that. You don't pay attention--there's a verse for that. You make fun of your brother--there's a verse for that. And most of the verses came from Proverbs. My recent perusal of Proverbs has reminded me of my daily encounter with truth through my mother's faithful use of wisdom.

There are 31 chapters in Proverbs. There are 31 days in most months. In almost every chapter (and sometimes multiple times per chapter) my mother's voice comes to mind...

Today's Proverb was whipped out whenever we would finish a task in a half-hearted, lazy way. As she looked at piles of poorly folded laundry, barely clean rooms, and dinner dishes which were "soaking" rather than being washed, my mother would look at us and say:

"Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him." (Proverbs 10:26)

We would then wash the dishes. Fold the laundry. And clean the room. Mom has a way with biblical confrontation....