followHIM - Hank and John's Favorite Proverbs: followHIM Favorites

Episode Date: August 28, 2022

Hank Smith and John Bytheway share their favorite proverbs from this week's Come, Follow Me study.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/old-testament/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the follow HIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Executive Producers, SponsorsDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-piano

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Follow Him Favorites. You know the deal. John and I take on a certain question from this week's lesson. Well, it's a little bit different this week because we're going to be in the book of Proverbs. So instead of asking a question, we're just going to say, what are our follow him favorite Proverbs? The book of Proverbs is made up of short little sayings. It's like the ancient world's Instagram, where you can kind of scroll through and just get little quotes that you like and you can put up on your mirror. So, John, tell me about the book of Proverbs. What jumps out at you?

They're like refrigerator magnets, little quotations. I think we probably ought to start with the youth theme for this year, right? Proverbs 3, 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. That's Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Absolutely. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not to thine own understanding. This one is a little bit of an interesting one. It's Proverbs

6, 27. It says, can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? It's kind of a funny question. Can you pick up fire and hold it and not get burned? We probably should add, please don't try this at home. Yes, please don't do this. Please don't do this at home. The wisdom in this is that when you're dealing with very important things like human sexuality, you've got to be careful. If you're not careful, you're going to get burned and you don't want to take fire.

You don't want to pick it up and go, oh, wow, this really hurts. It's smart to be wise about things like that. Okay, John, back to you. Can you find another one? Yes. Proverbs 4, 7. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding. And all thy getting. All thy getting, whatever that means. With everything you've got. Yep. If you're getting a lot, make sure you're getting understanding. How about Proverbs 14 verse 4? See if you can follow this one, John. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. I love this one. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. Now that's only the first half. And what it means is if you don't want to clean up oxen manure, don't have any oxen.

Where no oxen are, the crib or the stall is clean. If you don't want oxen manure, don't have oxen. But then it finishes with, but much increase is by the strength of the ox. So it's a give and take. I like this because there's no such thing as a manure-free ox. If you're gonna have an ox, you're gonna have to deal with both the pros and the cons.

You're gonna have to deal with the pros, which is the strength of the ox, but also the cons, cleaning up after the ox. I've used this in marriage many times. If you don't want to have marriage problems, don't get married, but there's a lot of blessings from being married. If you don't want to have kid problems, don't have kids, but there's a lot of blessings that comes from having kids. Just one of my favorites, where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox. Back to you.

Oh, that's great. And I have heard you use that. I'm so glad you did. Proverbs 15, 13, a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. Skip to verse 15. All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. And then verse 17, better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. I'd rather. How would you like your stalled ox? I'll have mine medium well, and do you have some A1 sauce with that? I'd rather have a salad with my friends than a nice big steak with someone I don't like. And Ruth's Chris with my enemies, right? That's awesome.

I found a merry heart one as well. Proverbs 17, 22, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. That one reminds me of President Hinckley. Remember, he always used to say, put a smile on your face. When things look gloomy, put a smile on your face. Things are going to work out. And a little bit further in that same chapter you're not that smart, don't open your mouth and people won't know that you're not that smart. But problem is, is I keep opening my mouth. Oh, my dad used to say something. I guess it is a proverb, not biblical, but it's better to let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

You are a fool. Across the page, this one is for new grandpas. Proverbs 16, 6. And for old grandpas. Children's children are the crown of old men. And the glory of children are their fathers. So your children's children, those are called grandchildren. I have one.

That's fantastic. And they are the crown of life. Skip all the way up to Proverbs 27, 17. Think about this with your friends. Iron sharpeneth iron. If you want to make an iron sword even sharper, you use iron. Those two things can sharpen each other. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Ooh, I like that one. A good friend was going to make you sharper. It's going to make you prepared for spiritual battles. You want friends like that. An iron friend. Proverbs 27, 6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Oh, I just think maybe there's something about the Savior in that.

He was wounded for us, the wounds of a friend for us, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Who kissed Jesus to betray him? Interesting. Yeah, that definitely can be a foreshadowing to Jesus. All right, here's my last one. Proverbs 25, 28. He that hath no rule over his own spirit, so self-control, is like a city that is broken down and without walls. A city that is broken down and without walls is about to be destroyed. It's about to be taken over by any other army that's coming along. So we need to make sure that we have as much self-control as possible. We need to have rule over our own spirit. A couple more Proverbs 29, 11, going back to that same thing you talked about, a fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. And then verse 20,

seest thou a man that is hasty in his words, there's more hope keepeth it in till afterwards. And then verse 20, seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There's more hope of a fool than of him. But let's end on a positive note. 29 verse 18, where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Ooh, I love that. When you said there is no vision, the people perish. I think of President Nelson. We have vision. Man, do we have someone with vision? I'm going to throw in one more that I like. I forgot about this one. Proverbs 15, verse 1, a soft answer turneth away wrath, right? Try to not get upset, raise your voice and get angry. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Over in verse 18, same chapter. A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife, or is a peacemaker.

So much to learn in the book of Proverbs. Here's another one, Hank. I got to throw this one in. Proverbs 13, 20. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. A companion of fools shall be destroyed. I heard somebody make the most interesting comment once that if two men are walking down the street and they meet each other, one will adopt to the speed of the other. Or their stride will start to match.

One will slow down. One will speed up. And it's just that idea of try to have good associations because they'll bless you. So I'm blessed to be walking down the street with you, Hank. Thank you. That's awesome. Hey, that was a great one to finish on. We hope that you will go into the book of Proverbs this week and find some of your favorites. Get your red pencil out and start highlighting through the Proverbs. You might find some that you remember for the rest of your life. Now, we want you to come join us on our full podcast. It's called Follow Him. You can find it wherever you get

your podcasts. This week, we're interviewing Dr. Lincoln Blumell, who's going to walk us through Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. You're going to love his take on all of this. And of course, join us next week for another Follow Him Favorites.