Thought for the Day

Verse 28 - Proverbs records many situations from the standpoint of the Word of God. A sign of God's favor upon Israel was the birth of many children and an increasingly large population. In America, we have reduced our population by millions because of abortion. This has hurt us in many ways, one being a loss in our work force and disproportionate age groups. (The older population will soon outnumber the youth, and because our Social Security system is supported by new workers enrolling in it, this means there will not be enough contributions to support it).

However, the greatest damage to our country is the curse of death that is upon it because of abortion. Because millions of innocent babies have been murdered, we will reap what we have sown. We are told in Genesis 9:6-7 and Deuteronomy 27:25 that the penalty for shedding innocent blood is that we will experience the shedding of blood in our nation.

Any country with a small population has difficulty in defending itself and is deprived of the talents that many people contribute and inspire in others. Evil kings can rule so badly that their own people will flee the country and strangers will not want to settle in it. A king without the support of his people cannot maintain his position. If a ruler does not have his people behind him, it will eventually be to his destruction.

Verse 29 - Whoever is slow to become angry is a man of understanding. The quick-tempered man exposes his own folly. He says and does many foolish things, and some may not be correctable (Proverbs 14:17 AMP). Hateful, angry words can devastate others and cannot be taken back. Only God can deliver someone from a bad temper and heal the wounds that he has inflicted on others. God will do this for us if we ask Him.

Verse 30 - Doctors have discovered that many physical ailments are due to problems in the soul. Patients who replace negative attitudes with positive ones recover dramatically. The physical body can express envy, anger, and unforgiveness in the form of various diseases. Yielding to anger drains us of energy we could have used productively, whereas walking in love, faith, and forgiveness produces peace of mind and health. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. It develops in us as we allow the Holy Spirit to change us. We must ask the Lord to help us to restrain our anger. "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God" (James 1:19-20).