Proverbs 12:11

The Contrast of Diligence and Vanity in Proverbs 12:11

0:01 Proverbs chapter 12, verse 11, he that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread, but he that follows after vain, and you'll notice in the old 1901 the word persons is in italics, in the original there's no persons there or things, you have to make a judgment. He that followeth after vanity or vain, it could be persons, things, is void of understanding, and I believe it's left indefinite for a very good reason. See the contrast? Here's a time to go out and till your land.

The Long-Term Vision of Diligent Labor

0:38 You're thinking down the road, if I'm going to have bread through the winter, my wife's got to have grain from which to make it. If there's going to be grain, there's got to be a harvest. If there's going to be a harvest, the stuff has to be planted, and if it's going to be planted, it's got to be plowed. So way back here in the spring, I'm determining whether or not there's going to be plenty of bread out here in the winter, and what I do here will affect that there. But when a man knows he ought to be out and be plowing, he gets the thought of, oh, man, the conditions are beautiful.

The Rationalization of Vain Pursuits

1:15 I mean, I bet the bass are jumping down at the lake, and you know, I can always catch those fish and put them in the freezer, and they'll help with food. He can ride. He can rationalize. Oh, good.

1:27 It's hunting time. It's hunting season. Certain things are, now you get them or you don't get them. He follows after things that are what?

Defining 'Vain' in the Context of Duty

1:34 Not evil necessarily, or people that are evil necessarily, but he follows after vain things. He follows after that which is vain, profitless, useless in terms of the thing he ought to be doing at that time, and that is tilling his land. He ought to be behind his mule out there plowing. And if he doesn't, obviously, see, there was no welfare system to pick up the fruit of a man being a lazy bum.

Focused Commitment to Timely Work

2:05 He that tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he that follows after vain persons is void of understanding. There the emphasis falls upon the focused commitment to labor and to work, and to recognize that anything that will keep me from my timely work is vanity, whether it be persons or things. He that treads on the land of the free, and the land of the free, and the land of the free, and the land of the free, and the land of the free. He that treads on the land of the free, and the land of the free, and the land of the free.

Teaching Children the Principle of Timely Duty

2:30 And we must teach our children that that's true. When they need to be studying that extra hour for that exam, when they need to be spending that extra half hour pulling weeds from the shrubs, and their favorite monitored TV program on that you and mom and dad have agreed is good for them to watch as a means of legitimate diversion, or perhaps a National Geographic nature film that would be good for their instruction and their appreciation. Of God's world, that's what would normally be there, but at this time that other task must be completed. You must teach them that to be even watching something that will make them appreciate God's world at that point is a vain thing when they ought to be tilling land.

Solomon's Wisdom for All Generations

3:16 And you and I need to teach them that as Solomon taught his son.