TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Jan 12, 2026 - Proverbs 19:13-15 - Dripping Roof and a Sluggish Soul 06-2026

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

Proverbs 19:13–15 paints vivid pictures of how foolishness and laziness erode life from the inside out. A foolish son brings grief and ruin to his father, while a contentious spouse wears down a household like a constant drip from a leaking roof. The passage then turns inward, warning that laziness dulls the soul and leads to hunger and loss. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart examine how unchecked folly damages families, how strife drains joy, and how sloth quietly starves both body and spirit. Lesson 06-2026 Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting MannaNation.com, calling 1-888-519-4935, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961. MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today! www.megafire.world Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves! www.AmericanReserves.com It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! www.Amazon.com/Final-Day Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! www.books.apple.com/final-day Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. We are so glad that you have found it and have set aside some time to study the Word of God with us. There's a virtual Bible study taking place right now at 8 a.m. Eastern time. The location is manna nation.com. It's real. It's live. You can be there. Manana Nation.com. and there is a vast number of Christians from all over the world. Usually, we have 20 to 25 nations participating in the live class. So if you're able to join in at 8 a.m. Eastern Time, that's where we actually meet every Monday through Friday. Now, if you're watching on Faith TV and we get to the end of a broadcast, which is a half-hour broadcast, the lesson continues and all you have to do is go to man a nation and find the lesson number

and you'll be able to watch the rest of the lesson today's lesson number is 06-2026 06-26 let's pray invite the holy spirit and then dr burkhart is going to read the word and we're going to get into the study of we've had three verses to study today in the book of Proverge. Let's pray. Almighty God, our Father in heaven, we love you with all our heart, mind, and soul, and we give you glory and praise. And we come to you, Father, in that wonderful name of your son, Jesus Christ. And, Father, we ask for wisdom and understanding. Your word promises us that if anyone asks for wisdom, you will give it to us liberally, generously. And so, Father, we asking for wisdom and understanding, come Holy Spirit, take charge of this Bible study, and enlighten

all of us, the teachers and the students in the understanding of your word, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, Doc, today we're looking at verses. This is chapter 19, book of Proverbs, of verses 13 through 15. If you would please read the word of God. And it's always a perfect. just to read the word of God, Rick. And I always encourage our Bible students to read the word of God out loud no matter where you were in the world. And so we encourage you to do that.

I'm reading from the King James today, Proverbs chapter 19, verses 13 through 15. And it reads, A foolish son is the calamity of his father. And the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers. And a prudent wife is from the Lord. In verse 15, slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep,

and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. God bless the reading of his word today. Okay, so if you're new to Morning Manor, the teaching style that Doc and I use is that we break each verse into two or three segments, and then we drill down into each segment and extract as much. many nutrients as we can find, and then we put it all together to get the total picture of that of that verse. So the verse 13, the first segment says, a foolish son is the calamity of his father. Proverbs 19, verse 13, is showing us, and actually if we look at it, put it all together,

a foolish son is the calamity of his father, and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. So what is this verse teaching us? It's showing us that two of life's sharpest sorrows are in the home. A foolish son is like a calamity and a contentious spouse is like slow torture. So eternal, or I should say external, external, external trials. actually many times hurt less than these inward afflictions that we suffer in our families because they strike where we should expect comfort in our families. So let's focus on the foolish son. Who is the foolish son?

As we know from studying the book of Proverbs, the fool is not a stupid person. This is not about stupidity, but it is a rebellious person, a defiant person, a stubborn person. Fools can be very educated, they can be very intelligent, and at the same time be rebellious, defiant, stubborn, refuse to submit to the authority of the Lord and refuse to accept his word as the final say in all matters. The fool rejects instruction. The fool chooses immediate gratification. The fool treats authority and wise counsel

as changed instead of protection. And so the Bible says, Solomon said that a calamity, this is like a calamity. The Hebrew word for calamity is an engulfing disaster. a chasm that opens up wide, swallows joy, swallows up resources, swallows up reputations.

It's an ongoing calamity. So the foolish son, and this doesn't apply to just boys, to males, it applies to daughters also. The foolish son is more than a disappointment. The foolish child is a walking catastrophe that collapses the father's hope for comfort in life to have a lasting legacy. And this calamity is ongoing.

Every foolish act by the son or daughter reopens old wounds and deepens past pains. And so a father expects the son to be wise, to be his crown and his strength. Instead, the foolish son becomes the father's undoing. And that strikes at the father's name and his reputation. So, Doc, this grief is threefold. It's emotional. There's heartbreak. There is, it's social.

There's shame. And it's financial. Often a foolish son or daughter will bring financial waste, legal problems. A lot of money spent on lawyers to get the son out of trouble. Right. Damage done to other people, to property, so forth. And so the father incurs all of these expenses and tolls upon his life. The father is the one who's paying most.

emotionally and financially for the son's foolishness. Right. It's a wasted investment, just looking at it from that perspective. One of the things that you're going to hear Rick talk about a lot in our study here in Proverbs is about divine order. And Solomon addresses this once again. What's happening here in this verse is there's the inversion of that divine order again. So you have years of labor, years of teaching, years of love that suddenly seem liquidated

when a son embraces foolishness. And really, it's a bankruptcy of the heart. So the son is meant to uphold his aging father. But instead, in this verse, it brings gray hears about, brings the father down with sorrow. It's reversing that divine order that God designed. for family support. So if you can picture this, imagine a father curing a living corpse.

The son lives, but be spiritually dead to him. So the greatest earthly sorrow is really a foolish child who will not repent. And this is really a reflection of God's own lament. God says, I have nourished and brought up children. They've rebelled against me. So this proverb lets earthly fathers taste just on a small scale the amount of grief the Heavenly

Father has over the entire rebellious world. And Solomon makes us a warning to young people, but also a comfort to parents. The verse warns sons and daughters saying, look, your choices never affect you alone. You are either becoming your parents' crown or you're becoming their calamity. At the same time, it does not automatically blame the faithful parents. Sometimes children go astray. It simply acknowledges how deep that wound runs when a child walks in foolishness and folly, Rick.

Is, Doc, I don't think any of us fully comprehend. And the grief, the pain that our Heavenly Father experiences every day for the, say, billions. Yes. Billions of sons and daughters who are rebellious and lost. They're in the billions. And Dr. Totsville, I know some religious people or, you know, they're fond of calling down fire on people. and, you know, wanting, desiring the Lord to, you know, wipe out somebody because of their behavior. Right.

We forget that person, that man or woman, no matter how evil and just misbehaving they are. It's still God's son or daughter. That's right. You're asking God to, to assess. assign that person to hell. Yes. And so we wonder, why does God allow evil people to continue living and doing their evil? Because he's a father and he doesn't desire to end their life while they're still lost.

Right. And so he understands this grief. That's what this verse is about. Well, look at some of the quotations from some of the great Bible scholars. and preachers and teachers of long ago, Matthew Henry, a Presbyterian from back in the 1700s, he said, a foolish son is the calamity of his father. It shows the vanity of the world that we are liable to the greatest griefs, where we promise ourselves the greatest comforts.

Yes. John Gill had this to say, a very great affliction he is, and which has many distresses, talking about that child. Such a one is the ruin of his father, not of his life, but of his joy and comfort, and sometimes of his very substance and estate as well. Bishop Joseph Benson said, A foolish son is the grief and often the utter ruin of his father, both in his name, state, and comfort.

Charles Bridges says that this is a home sorrow. It's a living cross. the bitterness of which none can know but the parents own heart. And Free Church of Scotland, Pastor William are not, said, A bad son is a father's greatest misery, a wound that bleeds inwardly and admits of no cure. Yes. Okay, so now we're going to go to the second wound in the family, and that is a contentious wife. The second part of this verse says, and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

It's speaking of the torture of the drip, relentless strife in the home. Drip, drip, drip. Yes. And so it speaks of contentions, Doc, meaning habitual quarrels. We're not talking about a brief between a husband and a wife. We're talking about day after day after day, month after month, year after year, griping and complaining and quarreling and strife and nagging and fault-finding and contentious argumentative spirit in a home that never rests, never gives it a break.

Just always at it, constantly digging. and wounding and complaining and griping. That's what this is talking about. Yes. So it evokes the image of a leaky roof. Okay. You know, so that there's a steady drip, drip, drip. It's not a catastrophic in a moment.

It's not like a flood. Right. But it's an inescapable. wearing down a destructive force over time, a persist, slow, maddening, never-ending irritation. You know, water dripping on a rock, continuously, Doc, can wear down a rock. That's right. So a solid rock can be eroded by a continuous drip of water. You know, a lot of us are aware of Chinese water torture, right?

Hopefully you haven't experienced Chinese water torture, but what it is, it's a form of psychological torture. So what happens is cold water is just dripped, dripped, dripped continuously, either consistently or at odd variables, interals, onto the restrained person's forehead, on their scalp or face for a long period of time. What's the purpose? The purpose is designed to drive the subject to insanity

through extreme anxiety, through sensory deprivation, and helplessness rather than causing any direct physical harm. A drop of water is not going to hurt you, but a thousand drops of water, it could drive you crazy. So that continual dropping like a leaky roof in the rainy season, It's slow. It's persistent. It's maddening. It's never ending. And Solomon, you know, had a unique perspective on this. He was married more than Woods, Rick. And so he has probably encountered this or observed it in others as well. And he had, what, 300 wives? Yeah, as we used to say in Sunday school when I was a kid, he had 300 wives and 600 porcupines.

And so. Yes, the concubines. So, yeah, he obviously encountered this at least once. Right. What he's talking about here is the continual dripping. Okay. It's insidious. It's not one loud argument.

Emotions get heated. Temper's flare, things are set, and then things calm down, and a couple makes up. That's not what this is about. It's about endless small jabs and pokes and wounding against the husband that erodes his strength, his energy, his joy. So Solomon is likening a quarrelsome, argumentative wife to a constant drip. And he says, what he's saying here is that eventually it will wear down the husband. It will destroy the peace in the home. And it will turn the home into a torture chamber.

Okay, so a contentious spouse is like slow poison. It destroys marriage drop by drop. See, the home should be a place of rest. But contention turns it into, like I said, a torture chamber. And so the husband comes home from back. battling forces all day long in the work world and he comes home to a house that's a battleground. Right. Where the house should be a shelter. Yeah, it should be a shelter from life's forms. Right. It should be a shelter. And so the husband should rest in his home. But too many homes,

the husband is like, I'd rather be out there in the work world getting beat up by everything it's in the world than to go home and to endure that kind of torture. So this is what this is is what Solomon is teaching us here is that wives you're responsible for the atmosphere of the home is as simple as that wives determine the home's atmosphere and so the husband he's dealing with storm dealing with storms all day long and whether he's a king or he's a ditch digger or whatever it might be that he does for a living he's dealing with storms the law last thing he needs is to come home to a storm inside the house, right? And in this particular situation, the husband, the implication here from Solomon is that the husband cannot escape the sound.

It's like that leaking roof. If you've ever had a leak in your roof and you can't figure out where that leak is coming from, but you hear it. It's like a leaking roof you can't fix in the middle of the storm. The noise follows him from room to room. room. Can't get rest anywhere. You're in the living room. You're in the bedroom. You're in the restroom and you just hear that drip, drip, drip. So it's that, it's not just one intense quarrel like Rick was explaining here, but it's that constant friction. The words, the tones, the jabs that wear down the spirit like water wears away a stone, as Rick was mentioning earlier. So over time, this drip will rot if you allow it in your uh in your attic it'll ruin the beams well in this case that

drip rots the beams of affection in a marriage it destroys intimacy and turns the home right from a place of a haven really into a place of torment and this this continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike so god really is saying, I take domestic strife seriously, whether it's a child that you're dealing with or if it's a contentious spouse. And even though this depicts a wife, the lesson applies to any spouse or family member whose constant contention shapes the home's climate. And so wives are invited to ask a very simple question here, Rick. Is my voice a fountain alike, a life or is a leaky roof. Do I build my house or do I tear it down with my own hands and words?

Proverbs 141, if you recall here a few weeks ago, it says that every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. And so a church full of murmuring and infighting resembles a contentious wife to Christ as well. So there's direct application to the body of Christ's terror. That continual drip in the ears of the bridegroom instead of praise. And God's grace aims to make his people gentle, peace-loving, and slow to quarrel so that the house of God and the Christian home are refuges and not torture chambers. John Gill said this about this part of the verse, Rick. He said, a contentious wife is like the dropping of rain through the roof,

very troublesome and uncomfortable, and drives a man out of his own home. Joseph Benson, Joseph Benson, Bishop, I believe in the Anglican Church, said that the perpetual complaining of a contentious wife is like a continual dropping of rain which disturbs those within doors and by degrees wears away the house itself.

And then Albert Barnes, he said, the ever-recurring chiding... Albert Barnes said, the ever-recurring... Oh. Go ahead, Doc. Go ahead. Go ahead. Doc. Yes. Yes, go ahead with Albert Barnes.

Yes. Albert Barnes had this to say, the ever-recurring chiding is compared to the ceaseless drip of a leaking roof. It's one of the most intolerable of minor miseries. Charles Bridges said the drip, drip, drip of a rainy day

wears out the patience, destroys the comfort of life. And William Arnaud said, a quarrelsome wife is like a constant leak. It makes the house uninhabitable and drives a husband to the house top or the wilderness.

You know, Doc, When you have a leak in your house, you just hate it when there's after a rain, a heavy rain, and you discover the ceiling's leaking. And there's, and what do you do? You put a bucket on the floor. Yes. And you're listening to that water drop into that bucket. And eventually, you know, hey, that bucket's halfway.

full. That's a five-gallon bucket. It's halfway full. Then it's full. You're realizing, man, there's a lot of water coming into my house. That's a lot of complaining. There's a lot of dripping, all right? And so, you know, we tolerate it for a while. And then eventually, it just becomes the norm. That becomes the normal way of living, the constant gifting. I don't know about you, but I'll tell you what, for me in my home, I'll tell you what irritates me. The chirping of dying batteries in smoke detectors. I don't know why, Doc. Why do batteries in smoke detectors die at midnight?

They never die at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It's always 2 a.m. No, never do. And you wake up, you hear the chirping, and you try to pretend it's not happening. And then, you know, after a while, you're like, I got to get up and go get a ladder and change the batteries. That chirping is extremely irritating. But that's the message. That's what this verse is telling you, that it's not going to go away.

It's just going to continue, and it's going to wear you down. Now we go to verse 14. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. Doug, I'm going to read the Septuagint. It says fathers divide house and substance to their children, but a wife is suited to a man by the Lord. We'll start with the first segment. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers. The verse is summarizing material inheritance,

land, homes, money, business, tangible property that parents work and accumulate and lawfully pass down to their children. And so the scripture is saying, this is good. This is a good thing to do. A wise man leaves an inheritance, to his children and his children's children, to the grandchildren. But you notice the Bible doesn't say to the third generation.

I used to really think about this a lot, Doc. Well, how can I leave to my children's grandchildren? And then the Lord showed me, you're not expected to. Your son and daughter are expected to bring. provide for their grandchildren, you're not. You're only to provide for your children. Yes, that's right. So it's normal, it's normal and right for parents to lay up for their children,

not to leave them destitute. But there is a limit to this parental power. A father and a mother can transfer deeds. accounts, but they cannot transfer wisdom and character in a godly heart. You can't do that in a will. You can't put in a will. I give my godliness to my grandchildren. I bequeath my wisdom to my son and you can't do that. You can only give material things. Pass it down. So parents can give a house, but they cannot give a home. there's a difference

the home represents love and reverence and peace so you can give the physical property but you can't transfer the contentment and joy that should come with that home unless you are walking in

you and your spouse are walking in the divine love of God so anyhow what it means is that these gifts belong to what would what the old-timer Bible commentators called common providence that unbelievers and believers alike may inherit large estates but wealth does not guarantee happiness or holiness. Yes, that's right. And by putting house and riches in that very first part of this verse,

Rick, King Solomon really is kind of lowering them a little bit. They're genuine blessings. Let's be real about that. But they're the goods of the footstool, not the goods of the throne. And without these higher gifts, like you were talking about, that only God can supply, large inheritances can become fuel for foolishness. A wealthy fool is simply a well-funded disaster waiting to happen, Rick. And so this line is teaching stewardship and not simply trust.

So material inheritance is to be managed under God's authority, not treated as the deepest anchor of a family's hope. It also is urging parents to labor not only for financial provision, but for prayer, example, and instruction, and knowing their money can outlive them, but cannot by itself make their children wise by any structure of the imagination. And Rick, you and I both know people that have lived all their lives, trying to leave a legacy, leave something behind, usually in the form of material goods and things like that. But the true legacy that we can give our children and grandchildren is a righteous life, and an honorable life, and a great character where they can sit back and say, my father or my grandfather may not have been the wealthiest person, but he's,

He was the most righteous person that I've ever known. That's right. That's right. You know, so, Doc, my grandpa, he wasn't wealthy. He was sufficient. You know, he, born in 1898, quit school in the third grade to go to work, driving mules on the C&O Canal. Wow. Okay.

You know, worked hard. But what do I remember about him that every day I saw him reading the Bible? That's the image I have of him. Going to his home and he'd be seated in his living room with the Bible. That's my memory of my granddad. Okay, that's the legacy he passed down to me.

Did I inherit things from him? Yes, sure, did. Yeah, he left things to me in his will. you know but what am i going to do with an old rake and ladder tools yeah but but the the memory of him reading the bible and going to church every sunday that's the legacy he left me yes let's look at what the the old time commentator said hundreds of years ago matthew henry said you know parents can give estates, but this is all that parents as such can do toward the making of their children happy. Right. And William are not, and as we transition to the second part of this verse, said,

A father may give his son a house and money to maintain it, but he cannot buy him a prudent wife. And that segues into our second half of this verse. That's right. And so part two of this verse says, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. So we've got a deliberate contrast, okay? A prudent wife is not, what we're being taught here is that a prudent wife is not from the fathers, but from the Lord.

Right. Our heavenly father. Yes. So an earthly father can pass on money and property and a good reason. reputation and so forth. But only the Heavenly Father can give as son a prudent wife. That a prudent wife is a gift from the Lord.

So the word prudent speaks of a woman having spiritual and practical wisdom, discerning, God-fearing, able to manage herself, able to manage her, able to manage her tongue, able to manage the affairs of her home with godly wisdom. Right. She is more than just outwardly attractive, but she's inwardly beautiful. She knows when to speak and when to be silent. She knows when to yield and when to stand. She builds, she uses her hands and her mouth to build her home and not tear it down.

And so Solomon is teaching us that such a wife cannot be manufactured, cannot be purchased, arranged, or guaranteed by any human planning. But only God truly knows hearts and then suits one soul to another. Yes. Now, contrast. That's the message. Right. Contrast this with the previous verse in verse 13.

So this is the positive counterweight to that, to that contentious wife. where contention is that continual drip, drip, drip, drip, that rots a house eventually. Prudence is that steady pillar, that rock, that holds it all together. You know, a man can marry into riches and yet be poor if he marries a fool. And on the other hand, he may marry a woman of modest means and yet be rich indeed if she is prudent. for he that findeth a wife he that findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord

so I like the Septuagin's version of this in that saying she is suited to a man by the Lord implying compatibility there God designs her wisdom to complement his weakness and strengthen his calling God does this

and because she's from the Lord Rick she must be sought from the Lord you know in this world today of freewheeling relationships and going in and out and casual relationships this is just you know

counterculture to all that this verse should drive young women men and women to prayer in finding the compatible mate for their life, not merely a preference and human calculation, but who does the Lord have for us? Who has the Lord prepared for us?

And this proverb really often hear at times where it says the Bible demeans women as absolutely not true at all. This proverb is actually exalting women because what it's doing, it's locating their highest value. What's the highest value in women? It's not their looks. It's not their sex appeal or the money they have or who their daddy is or anything else like that.

It's not in dowry. It's not in status or not in their external charm. It also implies that a wise husband recognizes and thanks God for the gift that he has. And you're thankful for it, Rick. You're careful to take care of it. That's right. So the Lord made man. Man is the species.

And he made them male and female. So mankind is the species. He made man. And he made male and female. I don't know who first said it. I wish I could claim credit. But you've heard it said before, Doc, that Eve came from Adam's side, from his rib, and that Eve did not come from, God did not take Eve from Adam's feet.

He was not to lord over her, but he also did not take Eve from his skull. and Eve was not to dominate him. But she was taken from his side. Side by side. She is to compliment. She's to compliment her husband. God, males and females are made in the image of God. They are made in the likeness and image of God.

A woman is as just as much as a man made in the likeness and image of God. I don't understand theologically how to explain that, Doc. I just know that both sexes are made in the likeness and image of God. Yes. And what this verse is teaching us is, it's wise to seek the Lord for your mate, not to just run off and marry somebody

because you're madly in love with somebody and you've got passions and you just want to go get married. But you're to seek the Lord. So that requires you first being saved. That's right. You've got to be saved. Because how are you going to pray and seek the Lord for your mate if you're not even saved yourself? But there's a broader theological pattern here, Doc.

Just as a prudent wife is God's gracious gift to a man. man, the church, the worldwide church of God. Amen. It is the father's gift to his son, Jesus Christ. Amen, Rick. And Christ is given as the wise bridegroom who makes his bride proven. So, you know, we don't want to be a continual dripping to our husband, do we? If we are the bride of Christ, we don't want to.

want to be a continuous dripping to him, meaning murmuring, complaining, griping, yanging, yeah, every day, every day, wear him out. I mean, does he, he doesn't want to hear it. What does he want to hear? How much we love him, how much we admire him, how much we honor him. That's what our Lord desires to hear from us. If he is our husband, then he desires to hear words of praise and adoration and worship. Let's take a look at the commentator's words on these verses.

Well, Matthew Henry has a message for this generation, Rick, and that is a prudent wife is from the Lord. Do we really believe that? A prudent wife is from the Lord, more immediately his gift. A prudent wife is a special token of God's favor and care. John Gill said, she is from the Lord, a singular gift. of his providence, both in the grace given to her and in God's ordering of their union. Once again, we're talking about divine order once again, Rick.

That's right. Albert Barnes was a great, notable Presbyterian pastor in the city of Philadelphia, USA, back in the 1800s. He said, an excellent wife is a higher blessing than any inheritance. she is not of man's providing, but of the Lord's giving. And then Charles Bridges, I think Charles Bridges was a Methodist, if I recall. I think he was a Methodist leader with John Wesley. He said, a man's own skill may get him a house, but not a prudent wife.

That is a gift of his grace. Right. And our friend William R. Not had this to say, speaking about this prudent wife, she is not a thing to be bought and sold. She is a gift sent down from heaven, the very anchor of the soul in the storms of life, Rick. Amen. So Proverbs 14,

Proverbs 19, verse 14, it summarizes, it's drawing a sharp, a gracious line between what fathers can give. their sons, an estate, and what only our Heavenly Father can give, which is a wise spouse. So I think the lesson for parents is that we should labor in this life to provide, but more than anything, pray that God would grant our children wisdom and godly partners, that our greatest legacy is not what we leave them physically,

but what God works in them and around them. Right. And for those of you who are single that are watching or listening to our lesson today, there's a message for you here. And I know it goes against everything in today's culture and everything, but you really need to seek the Lord more than you can scan the room. A prudent spouse is going to be found on your knees before you find them at the altar. And I'm speaking both from observation and personal experience.

It's better to wait for God's gift than to hurry into a rich calamity. And for husbands, and, you know, speak directly to all you husbands here today, and by extension wives, too, but especially husbands. if God has given you a prudent wife, a prudent partner, you need to treat that person as a treasure, as a treasure that houses and riches can't even compare to. And that thankfulness, that gratitude should shape how you speak, how you lead, how you love in the home.

If you had a treasure chest full of gold coins and silver coins, you would say nice things about that treasure chest. You wouldn't say, well, that thing's too heavy. He's got too many coins in it or all these other things. No, you would say, wow, I have a treasure here. Well, how much more valuable is that spouse, that prudent wife than any riches that you could have? So be careful.

Show your gratitude. Show your respect for the gift that God has given to you. Amen. The last verse for today, verse 15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. So we'll begin with the first part, slothfulness cast it into a deep leap.

In this sense, in the context of this verse, slothfulness, you know, being a slough, is more than being tired. It is an aversion to effort to work. Slothful people, Doc, are allergic to work. You can only get tired by working. Yes. Okay, so you can't say I'm tired.

Well, how could you be tired if you didn't work? It's okay to be tired. People who work get tired. But slothfulness is a, is to, to be allergic to work. They have a habit of avoiding effort, avoiding exertion, delaying, excusing,

always coming up with a reason not to do something. Now, listen to this, King Solomon said, when you have this sluffful mindset, again, this isn't, this doesn't, this doesn't, doesn't apply to somebody that says, I'm going to take a nap. I've worked very hard today. I feel tired right now. There's nothing wrong with that.

This is talking about a lifestyle. A lifestyle of not doing anything. Solomon said, it will cast you into a deep sleep. This is not a nap. This is a this is a heavy spiritual stupor. The laziness throws the person down and pins him like a wrestler, like a wrestler pinning an opponent. And that lazy person's awareness becomes dull,

and they lose the will to even do anything. So this deep sleep is giving us the picture of of being morally and spiritually and physically numb, that the slothful person becomes increasingly insensible. They don't even sense duty, responsibility, danger, opportunities. They're just numb, Doc. And so the more a person yields to laziness, harder becomes to end. ever rise up. And the inactivity breeds more inactivity. And the will grows weaker with every

surrender. Yes. And eventually, they will become a lazy slough that you can't, you can't do anything to motivate them. Yeah. And spiritually, it's that sleep of the soul. This person doses through the warnings of life, the sermons that they've listened to, the providences that God's brought across their life, as if eternity was some sort of distant dream out there, not approaching reality. And Rick really, Sloth often hides behind fear or cowardness, a fear of failure, a fear of effort, responsibility, so that doing nothing feels safer than risking obedience. And so this condition rest with escape. True rest rest restores strength

for duty. You ever get a good rest in and sudden you're ready for anything. Softness drains strength and deepens bondage. And so disciples warn that this is an opium of the will. It's self-inflicted.

And every postponed duty and indulged ease presses the soul deeper into lethargy. It's interesting how the Septuagint awards this, Rick. It defines us as cowardice. It says cowardice possesses the effeminate man and the soul of the sluggards shall hunger. And so we're talking about also a moral deficit here as well.

It's not just being lazy, but it's being lazy in the spirit as well. I'm glad you brought out the subtergion. I was just getting ready to read it because the Septuagint translates It's just as, that this laziness is cowardly, and it's the trade of an infaminate, sissified man.

That's right. You're not a man. That's really what it's saying. You're not a man. You're afraid to get up and work. You're afraid, afraid of putting effort. You're afraid of maybe not succeeding at something. And so Solomon equates this with being effeminate and being cowardly.

So think about that the next time you're dealing with a man who will not get up and go to work, who will not take care of himself and others. I think about what Solomon says is at the root of this problem here. The commentators, they describe, slothfulness as the paralysis of the soul. Right. They likened it to lethargy and stupidity. They said it makes people senseless and thoughtless.

I mean, these guys, the old-time preachers were not easy. They didn't go easy on lazy men. That's right. Matthew Henry said slothiness cast into a deep sleep. It stupefies the senses, benumbs the understanding, and makes men senseless and thoughtless. They live as if they were done. dead.

Bnubbs the understand. Baptist John Gittle said slothfulness cast us into a deep sleep. It brings upon them a lethargy, a stupor of mine. They are insensible to their state and condition and to the danger they are in.

Yes. Adam Clark said sloth renders a man utterly unconscious of his obligations. He's in a deep sleeve. a state of toper and inactivity. Charles Bridges said it is the sleep of the soul.

The spiritual faculties are suspended. It is a palsy of the mind. Yes, and William R. Not old. Think about that, Doc. Palsy of the mind. In other words, paralysis, a paralysis of the mind. Yes. Yeah, laziness, once it goes into the bone,

and it's hard to get out. So laziness, this is from William R. Not, by the way. He said laziness is a sweet morsel at first, but it becomes a bitter opiate. It acts like a dose of chloroform. Put you right to sleep. Okay, so now the second part of this verse says, And an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

The second part is stating the consequence of being, slothful, being an idol. An idle soul shall suffer hunger. That idleness and lack are joined together. That where you have idleness, you won't have lack. And where you have lack, you're going to have hunger. Yes. So the idle soul is the person given over to laziness, to inaction. A person who desires a harvest but isn't willing to plow. Somebody that desire success but isn't willing to discipline themselves.

Somebody that wants provision without participation. They desire the fruit of productivity but they're not willing to be productive. And so the Bible says such people will shall, not

will, shall suffer hunger. And the hunger here is literal. It's literal. It's physical hunger of lack of food, but it's also figurative. It's an inner emptiness. The lazy man or woman may lack bread for the body, but they also lack nourishment for their heart and spirit. Their soul is starving because they're unwilling to do anything to feed their soul.

So slothfulness promises the slothful person deceives himself. He tells himself he's going to have a life of ease. But slothfulness only delivers heartache. Yes. There is that short pain. Excuse me.

Slawfulness trades the momentary pain of labor in return for the long knowing of need, of poverty, a want, financial, relational, spiritual want. They're getting some temporary ease. I'm going to lay in bed. I'm going to watch TV. I'm going to kick back today.

I'm not going to go to work. But they're trading it. And the trade-off is that knowing pain, I don't have a knowledge. to pay my bills. I don't have enough money to buy food. Well, a job will solve that problem. Yes. I'm sorry. Folks, look, I am generous to people who are in need, but I am more generous to people in need who work than people who don't work. Listen to what I'm saying. I look for people who work. who are in need. They're struggling. They're struggling.

They're going to work every day. They're making an effort. They're struggling. It's hard in today's economy. The inflation, the prices, it's hard on families. Absolutely. And I see it. And I like to help young families because I see them working.

I see them struggling. But I'm not interested in helping somebody that doesn't work. Yes. Because you're causing your. own poverty. Like I said, a job will solve that problem. Just take the first job you see. And what's what happens? They'll give you a paycheck at the end of the week. That's right. They actually give you money for work and thinking about that. So what Solomon here really in Proverbs 1915, he's unmasking that laziness and sloth as the quiet destroyer that first puts

the soul to sleep and then lets it starve to death. So spiritually, the believer who is, you know, if we're going to apply this to the Christian walk, the believer who is too idle to pray, too idle to read the word of God, too idle to serve, it's going to end up suffering a leanness of soul. They're going to be living thin, they're going to be weak, they're going to be joyless in the things of God. So this hunger is not cruelty from heaven. This isn't God's punishment. The hunger isn't God's punishment, but it's your inheritance.

God lets want or your need, your hunger, expose that lie of laziness. It's loss so that a man is driven to wake up and work. So this verse rebukes the sense of entitlement that really a lot of people in our generation have. idleness wants to reap where it has not sown, but God's world is built on sewing and reaping, diligence and reward. And the only cure to break this spell, that deep sleep, and engage the will, is to work. Grace does not excuse laziness.

I'll say it again. Grace does not excuse laziness, but it should energize the sluggish to awake and rise from the dead. our Lord himself said he must Now this is Jesus Jesus saying he wasn't required to work but he said he must work the works of him that sent him while it is still day

Jesus himself worked and as his disciples we need to follow his example and faithfully fulfill our work and productivity you know people go to church they'll lift up their hands and worship but do they work? Because your work and your productivity is as much worship to the Lord

as standing in the greatest church service you've ever been in, lifting your hands and praising God. Both are worship before the Lord, Rick. Amen. I got an image in my mind. It's at least 30 years ago. In New York City,

I was a young businessman and had gone to New York City to attend a meeting. And I went into a hotel. I was in a hotel and I went into the men's restroom. And look, I was a country boy. I'd never been to New York City. It was my first time in New York City. All right. So I was stunned, you know, seeing a city.

So this is probably almost 40 years ago, okay? and there was an elderly man as the toilet attendant. And I had never in my life seen a toilet attendant, Doc. I didn't know there was such a job. There somebody worked in a toilet handing paper towels to people, okay, as they washed their hands. I had never seen that in my life. But here's what I remember about him. he was singing unto the Lord.

Praise the Lord. That's great. He was singing unto the Lord. He had the biggest grit on his face. And I looked at him and I said, you know Jesus, don't you? And he said, I sure do. And I said, well, then you're my brother.

Yes. And we had a little miniature church service dock right there in that New York City Hotel men's room. And other people were coming in and out. And the two of us were, worshiping Jesus. What am I saying? That dear old man used his humble, lowly job as an opportunity to worship Jesus every day. And he made everybody happy. Nobody loved that men's room without a smile on their face. He was putting a smile on everybody's face, just singing, being happy, being good morning to

everybody. See, he wasn't going to allow that lowly estate of saying, man, the only job I can get is to be a washroom attendant. No, he was like, I'm going to do this under Jesus. I'm going to work. And so there are a lot of people today that would never, ever do a job like that. They'd rather go hungry than to do a job so humble. But, you know, you know, you're not. You know, you're you mentioned what the Lord said. He also said, come unto me. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus also said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly and heart,

and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Yes. Hebrews, the book of Hebrews chapter four, verse three, says, for we which have believed to enter into rest. As he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. So what am I saying here? Jesus will give you rest, but you must get up and come to him.

That's right. You must take his yoke. upon you. You must enter into his rest. All three require exertion. You must come to him. You must take his yoke. You must enter. They require effort. So in order to receive and enter into the rest of the Lord, you have to work. It doesn't, I mean, it's almost like this doesn't make sense. But Jesus said, you show the effort I'll give the rest I will give you the rest

if you will show the effort yes so lazy people listen to me folks lazy people do not enter into the Lord's rest because they are too lethargic to do the work

necessary to get to the place of heavenly rest in Christ and that's why I want to commend this morning mana class worldwide. You're paying the price. You're doing the work. You're saying, I desire to enter into that rest. I desire to take his yoke. I desire to enter into that rest. You're making the effort. Lazy people. I'm talking about spiritually lazy people. They may not be lazy in their work. But they're spiritually lazy. and they won't do the spiritual work that's necessary to rest.

Again, what is it? We have to spiritually work in order to enter into spiritual rest. And this spiritual work isn't a component of salvation, but it's the fruits of salvation. Yes. You're not working for salvation. That's not what we're trying to say here. But that work comes as a result of that change of heart that's taken place.

And so that's important to distinguish you. So that rest that we're talking about comes from the labor of the work that God has done in your heart. That's right. Okay, let's check in with the old-time Bible commentator from centuries ago. Baptist John Gill said, an idle soul shall suffer hunger not only in his body but in his soul. He shall have no spiritual food, no communion. with God and no peace of mind. Yes, Albert Barnes said the idle soul, the deceitful,

who tries to get a living without working for it, shall find his craft fail him. And Cheryl Spurgeon, never at a lost word, said the idle soul is a starving soul. If we do not work for God, we shall not feast with God. Yes. If you're going to sit down at his dinner table,

You have to have been out in the harvest fields. That's right. I grew up in a farming area. We didn't own a farm. Even though my granddad's nickname was farmer, that's what everybody called him, farmer. But we were surrounded by farms. A lot of my relatives were farmers.

And some of my best memories, Doc, you know, summertime working on neighbor farms, bailing hay, milking cows, so forth. Loved it as a teenage boy. But the harvest, you had to get out there in harvest. Yes. Okay. Now, Doc, a lot of our neighbors were Mennonites, and the Mennonites had big families. And one memory I have of a Mennonite farm,

how close to my home was, I mean, they had a lot of sons and daughters and a lot of, a lot, it was a big family. And then the ones that were married, the sons and the daughters who were married, they had their spouses. But the older couple, the Middemeite farm couple, you know, the patriarchs of this family, you know, the matriarch, I remember, Doc, lunchtime was the big meal. and the women would cook a feast for lunch. Right. I mean, they were baking bread and fresh pies,

and they have pots of soup and all kinds of food. Master meal at lunchtime. Right. You know why? I'll tell you why. Because those men had been up working since 4 a.m. That's right. They'd already put in eight hours.

And when you go, At the noontime, they were hungry. Right. They were hungry. Here's the message I'm trying to pass through. You can't, you don't have the right to sit down at the meal table. If you were not in the harvest field, if you were not bringing the harvest into the barn. My friends, listen to me.

Jesus said, the fields are white under harvest. It's talking about the souls that need to be harvested for the kingdom. But he said, the labors are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest. To send workers. Workers. The Lord is always hiring. Heaven is always hiring.

There is no excuse to be unemployed. Heaven is always hiring. Ask the Lord for work. He'll send you into the harvest field. And when you do, you will have earned a right to sit down with Jesus when he gathers his family together for that great harvest meal.

If you were never out in the field working with Jesus, what right do you have to go to his dinner table? What right do you have to go to that dinner table? You never lifted your hands, you never worked, you were idle, you were slothful. You didn't care about the souls of the lost. What right do you have to go to the dinner table? Doc, I just feel like I'm talking to somebody right now. Like a bucket of cold water is being tossed in somebody.

Get with it. Get with the program. Our Heavenly Father's got a program. I know of a woman she's passed away. I never met her. Mama Zelma. You know who I'm talking about, Doc? Yes.

I never met her, but I supported her ministry for many years. I think she, I think, I want to say she was from Arizona. I might be wrong. She went to the Philippines at age 65 after she retired.

She went on a missions trip. And Doc, she saw so many homeless children. She saw so many orphaned children. It broke her heart. And Mama Zelma never went home. She never went back to the United States. She stayed in the Philippines and took care of orphaned children. And you know,

the doc, this is, you know what I'm saying is true. Over the remainder for her lifetime, she lived another 20, 25 years. 25 years, yes. She lived another 25 years. And she raised thousands of orphans. Yes. And not only this, and I've been, and I've been to that orphanage in the Philippines. I've been there. I've seen what is there. I've seen the school that she built, the orphanage that she built, the farm that she built. This old woman. I mean, it's massive, Rick. I mean, and after she retired. Yeah. After she retired in age 65, and she said, I'm going, I'm going to end to this harvest field. And I just think right now God is dealing with some souls right now watching this class.

And you're wondering, what am I going to do with my life? Apply at heaven. Heaven's got a, we're hiring now sign. Yes. We're looking for workers. I'm telling you, they're looking. And you just show up with your resume and say, I'm here. Send me.

We got a spot for you. That's right. Okay. Praise the Lord. That's all for today. Thank you so much. God bless you. Love you very much. We'll be back here tomorrow with another lesson with Morning Manna. And tell people about Manna Nation. We gather at 8 a.m. Eastern Time at manna nation.com and also at my new YouTube channel, which is Rick Wiles Today. Yes. Rick Wiles Today on YouTube. We're also there live every morning at 8 a.m. So send people to YouTube. You don't remember Manna Nation.

get them to the site, get them hooked on this Bible study. Amen. Take care. See you tomorrow. God bless you.