A Little Advice

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. Proverbs 12:15

Everywhere we go, there is someone who is giving out advice. Not too long ago on the internet, we even had animals giving it! There was Advice Dog which inspired the meme, Advice Cat, which inspired the meme, Courage Wolf and so on and so on! And let’s not forget Advice Frog, Advice Dinosaur and Advice Duck. They all went viral and unfortunately, soon after descended into depravity! (Don’t worry, the ones following are G rated.)

Speaking of advice, I have a little for you. Don’t take advice from animals! Fortunately, there is still some good advice out there to be found. Erma Bombeck gave these helpful advisements.

  1. Never have more children than you have car windows.
  2. Never loan your car to someone to whom you have given birth.
  3. Pick your friends carefully. A “friend” never goes on a diet when you are fat or tells you how lucky you are to have a husband who remembers Mother’s Day–when his gift is a smoke alarm.
  4. Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
  5. Know the difference between success and fame. Success is Mother Teresa. Fame is Madonna.
  6. Never be in a hurry to terminate a marriage. Remember, you may need this man or woman someday to finish a sentence.
  7. There are no guarantees in marriage. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a Sears battery.

And sometimes you can even find good advice on Youtube!

You may not know this, but there is some excellent advice in the Bible. God actually has  a lot to say about it. Often, he correlates listening to advice with wisdom and success. The Bible is full of examples of people giving and taking advice. Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law–not the dude from Beverly Hillbillies), gave advice to Moses. The friends of King Rehoboam advised him. Pilot’s wife advised him concerning Jesus. (You can read more about this in this week’s “Just Say Know” Bible Study.) Surprisingly, not all the examples shown to us in the Bible are of good advice. This serves to remind us that listening to the wrong person can really turnout with disastrous effects. To me, one of the most memorable examples of this is in 1 Chronicles 10. Nahash, king of the Ammonites dies, leaving his son, Hanun as his successor. King David, wanting to show kindness, sends a delegation of men to him to express his sympathies. But King Hanun’s nobles advise him that David is really sending this delegation to spy out the land so he can overtake it. King Hanun then attacks by seizing David’s men, shaving them, cutting off their garments from the middle at the buttocks, and sending them away. Not a pretty picture!

But needless to say, that bad advice turned out to be pretty costly to King Hanun!

Based on what we read in scripture, we learn it is good to listen to

  • Those who have experience. (The elderly).
  • Our parents
  • Those who do not seek to do evil
  • Those who have wisdom
  • Last of all but not least–to God, through His word. (If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5)

Who are you listening to? LH

 “TALK TO ME”
(Sung with a William Hung accent. I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment!)

What was the worst advice you ever received?

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

Click on the link below for this week’s Bible Study.

A Little Advice

 

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is an aspiring Bounty Hunter who is always looking for God's Bounty-- His grace and goodness-- in the mundane and melancholy as well as in the miraculous. She is also a wife, mother of four adult children--two with Cerebral Palsy, grandmother and minister of the Gospel. "You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance." Psalm 65:11 NLT

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