More from John Ploughman

Two entries today since the first one is rather short:

• On Seizing Opportunities: Take-it-easy and Live-long are first cousins, they say, and the more’s the pity. A little too late is much too late, and a miss is as good as a mile. Nothing is to be got without pains except poverty and dirt! Hares never run into the mouths of sleeping dogs.
• On Keeping One’s Eyes Open: Don’t believe in the man who talks most; for mewing cats are very seldom good mousers. Never put yourself in another person’s power; if you put your thumb between two grinders, they are very apt to bite. Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it, and make sure that it means no more than it says. Don’t go to law unless you have nothing to lose: lawyers’ houses are built on fools’ heads. In any business, never wade into water where you cannot see the bottom. See the sack open before you buy what is in it; for he who trades in the dark, asks to be cheated. Keep clear of the man who does not value his own character. Beware of those who swear and blaspheme his Maker, he would make no bones of lying and cheating. Beware of no man more than of yourself: we carry our worst enemies within us. The trader who has once been a fraudulent bankrupt is not the man for you to deal with. A rickety chair is a dangerous seat. Be shy of people who are over polite, and don’t be too fast with those who are forward and rough. Have very little to do with a boaster, for a boaster and a liar are first cousins. Be not evermore suspicious, for suspicion is a cowardly virtue at best.

Taken from John Ploughman's Talk

John Ploughman's Talk

Continued from Wednesday...

On Gossips: What a pity there is not a tax upon words, and if lies paid double, the government might pay off the National Debt. As a snowball grows by rolling, so does a story. They who talk much lie much. Silence seldom makes mischief. Still waters are the deepest; but the shallowest brooks brawl the most; this shows how plentiful fools must be. Talking comes by nature, but it needs a good deal of training to learn to be quiet; If we must talk, at least let us be free from slander. If all men's sins were divided into two bundles, half of them would be sins of the tongue. "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." Think much, but say little: be quick to work and slow to talk; and, above all, ask the great Lord to set a watch over your lips.

Taken from John Ploughman's Talk

More from Spurgeon

Continuing from yesterday's post...

On Good Nature and Firmness: A man must have a backbone, or how is he to hold his head up? But that backbone must bend, or he will knock his brow against the beam. There is a time to do as others wish, and a time to refuse. We may make ourselves asses, and then everybody will ride us; but, if we would be respected, we must be our own masters, and not let others saddle us as they think fit. He who lies on the ground must expect to be trodden on. He who makes himself a mouse, the cats will eat him. If you let your neighbors put the calf on your shoulder, they will soon clap on the cow. We are to please our neighbor for his good to edification, but this is quite another matter. Go with your neighbor as far as your conscience will go with you, but part company where the shoe of conscience begins to pinch your foot. Don’t be ashamed to walk down Turnagain Lane. Never mind being called a turncoat when you turn from bad courses: better to turn than to burn. When we are injured, we are bound as Christians to bear it without malice; but we are not to pretend that we do not feel it, for this will but encourage our enemies to kick us again. He who is cheated twice by the same man is half as bad as the rogue. Paul was willing to bear stripes for his Master’s sake, but he did not forget to tell the magistrates that he was a Roman; and when those gentlemen wished to put him out of prison privately, he said, “Nay, verily, let them come themselves and fetch us out.” When a man is right, this sticking to the text is a grand thing; our minister says, “it is the stuff that martyrs are made of;” but when an ignorant, wrongheaded fellow gets this hard grit into him, he makes martyrs of those who have to put up with him. In a towering rage, a father turned his daughter out and I believe he is sorry for it, yet will not yield and inch; but stands to it he will never speak to her so long as he lives; meanwhile the dear girl is dying through his unkindness. Rash vows are much better broken than kept. He who never changes never mends; he who never yields, never conquers. With children you must mix gentleness with firmness; they must not always have their way, but they must not always be thwarted. Give to a pig when it grunts, and to a child when it cries, and you will have a fine pig and a spoiled child. A petted child will be as nuisance to others and a torment to ourselves. “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” If we never have headaches through rebuking our little children, we shall have plenty of heartaches when they grow up. Strict truthfulness must rule all our dealings with the young; our yea must be yea, and our nay nay, and that of the letter and the moment. Never promise a child and then fail to perform, whether you promise him a bun or a beating. (I would question this in light of rash threats coming from an unwise parent.) Be obeyed at all costs—disobedient children are unhappy children; for their own sakes make them mind you. If you yield up your authority once, you will hardly ever get it again; we must not provoke our children to anger, lest they be discouraged, but we must rule our household in the fear of the Lord, and in so doing may expect a blessing.

Taken from John Ploughman's Talk

John Ploughman’s Talk

Recently I found a book written by Charles Spurgeon, titled, John Ploughman’s Talk. It was filled with tid bits of wisdom that I found quite filling. I will be able to use these choice morsels throughout my life-time of ministry, family life, friendships, and business. Here are few examples of the wisdom insights found on its pages (I will add one each day):

a. On Patience: The best doctors are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merryman. Hard work brings health and an ounce of health is worth a sack of diamonds. It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. The best remedy for affliction is submitting to Providence. What can’t be cured must be endured. Losses and crosses are heavy to bear, but when our hearts are right with God it is wonderful how easy the yoke becomes.