Getting Ahead In Life

Getting Ahead in Life

Q: According to Proverbs, who has plenty of food?

• a. a hard worker
• b. a thief
• c. a rich man

Mark is a high school student who says he wants to get a job and save for college. Really, he’d rather have his parents pay his way, but they insist he earn at least half of the money himself. Mark complains he can’t find a part-time job. But when people tell him about one, he complains that he has too much homework or the boss is too hard to work for. Sometimes he just doesn’t show up for work. Mark hopes his parents will give in and pay his way.

Today’s verse from Proverbs says a person should have a good job working diligently day after day to earn a living. This is written to adults, but the verse also has meaning for you now. Your work is to get the best education you can. God wants you to listen in class, write your papers, study for tests, and learn all you can. But there are ways to be lazy. You could cut and paste information from the Internet for your report rather than writing it yourself. You could talk people into giving you the answer to the math assignment by making them feel sorry for you. You could let others do all the work on group projects. But none of these things would lead to success. None of them would give you joy or allow you to be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Do your best at all you do, and you will be successful in God’s eyes.

For You

If you’ve gotten into the habit of being lazy in your work, stop now. When the new school year begins, do the best you can on every assignment no matter how small, and hard work will soon become a habit. The reward will be knowing you did your best—and a report card to be proud of.

Answer: a

A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.   Proverbs 12:11

(The Whole Story: Proverbs 12)