The following is an accompaniment to our 2024 Practical Proverbs Calendar. Each month focuses on a practical verse from Proverbs. The aim is to help families think about God’s word and how to apply it to their daily lives.
The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit,
but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor.
Proverbs 21:5
Definitions of Key Words
Oxford Dictionary definitions:
Diligent
having or showing care and conscientiousness in one's work or duties
Reckless
heedless of danger or the consequences of one's actions; rash or impetuous
Profit
- a financial gain, especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something.
- advantage; benefit.
Poor
- lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society.
- of a low or inferior standard or quality.
Prep Work
- Make sure you’ve read the prayer to start the year at the back of the calendar
- Read the verse for this month carefully – read it multiple times. Every time you see it on the calendar, read it again.
- Look up the following words in the dictionary:
- Diligent
- Reckless
- Profit
- Poor
- As a way to open discussion, ask people what they think the meaning of each word is.
Things to look for this month
- Situations that present an opportunity to either be reckless or diligent. Look for them in your own life, and in the lives of your family.
- If you identify them before they happen, use them as discussion point – for example, “Okay, how can we be diligent in this situation? What do you think would happen if we act recklessly?"
- If you identify it afterward, evaluate the choice made and what the effect of that choice was.
Things to think about and discuss
- Do you remember a time when you were reckless and how it impacted you? Did it lead to a situation where you were “poorer”? It could be a spur-of-the-moment purchase that you later regrated, or an activity that you jumped into and cost you afterward (monetarily or not)
- Do you remember a time when you were diligent and how it lead to a positive outcome? Was it something that you had to be diligent for over a long period of time? Did you see the benefits straight away?
Bonus
- Set a challenge for each household member to memorise the verse. If you do this each month, everyone will get to the end of 2024 armed with 12 bible verses – that’s a huge win and blessing it itself!