Daily Proverb - Proverbs, Chapter 10

"Ill-gotten treasures are of  no value, but righteousness delivers from death"

"Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin"

Think about that, a treasure that has no value!  What a sadness to destroy a treasure.  Imagine if you had a fine work of art, crafted by a well known artist. You would treasure it and there would always be others who wished they owned it, or one like it.  Envy is not a good thing because often it leads to a destructive behavior.  For the simple minded, they may think they can swipe this work of art and get away with the crime.  But they would find that it would no longer be a treasure, not while they, the thief, had possession of it.  The treasure is now worthless to them.  If they try to sell it, they risk being caught.  If they display it in their home, someone may be visiting and they would be brought to justice.

 So when you read verse 14, "wise men store up knowledge" you can see how to apply this verse.  Storing up knowledge will make one more valued, more able to make accomplishments in life.  People who seek knowledge of good and want to do good, will have treasures that have value.  They don't have to live in fear of being found out!  They can rest at night and not worry about who is hot on their trail.  Now in the second part of verse 14, "but the mouth of a fool invites ruin."   Have you ever been in a crowd and heard a fool speaking.  How they carry on with words that are graceful but they usually have negative things to say about others.   Someday they just might insult the wrong person and it will bring pain.  It could be, they need that persons help and their insults have now come around and hit them in their face.  So stop wasting your time gossiping and use it to store up knowledge and be wise.

This chapter is packed with wisdom for daily living.  In verse 1 you can see how a wise son brings joy to his father.  And as you read along, you see how work has great value.  You can see words can bring so much pain.  Verse 16 tells us the value of the righteous life.  Verse 23 tells us that a fool finds pleasure in evil conduct but the understanding delight in wisdom.  And so as you read the entire chapter, there sure is much wisdom to be found.  An understanding that doing what is right compared to evil and foolish behavior, well, you can see that the best way of life is to fear the Lord!