As a young preacher and teacher I often used a two-word key phrase "Everlasting Principles" to say something in as few words as possible. Then, and now, I still believe that within those two words is woven the key principle for life. To the pioneers that probed through the trees here in Ohio and sought a place to raise their families a principle was as clear as the ringing of bell towers scattered across our land. Not a gong, or a thud but a clear sound to guide the wanderer lost in the forest. Somehow those pioneers figured out if they cut a log a certain way, chiseling unique joints on each end and in other sections of the log house framework (for windows and doors) they could expect them to stay put for centuries, no less than many decades for sure. Once my father-in-law thought he would make quick work of an old chicken-coop that was apparently in his way. After hooking a logchain at specific places he got on his tractor and engaged the power believing one good jerk would pull the building apart. What happened was that old chicken coop flipped up on its end like a contrary child refusing to mind its parent; it was built to stay together.

Everlasting principles are thoughts that our Creator wired into our minds to keep us from going hungry or getting cold. Being hungry is one thing but obeying thoughts in the mind to grub for food and store for the winter is what it took. The ability to hunt certainly is an acquired skill but thought processes are a necessity that cannot be ignored. "Tricks of the trade" abound in every endeavor man has entered. That extra "kick" or jerk in cranking a Model T, and having the good sense to let go at the right moment, was necessary to keep from getting a broken arm. A broom maker has to hold a broom just right and insert a double-pointed needle just right to put it through the broom and not the hand. Of course, such an accident would serve as sufficient mental input to be careful how that needle should be used, like the data one picks up at a blacksmith shop when picking up a still-hot horse shoe -- "it doesn't take me long to look at a horseshoe..." (said the naive onlooker as he threw it on the ground).

In the Bible we find much wisdom but the Book of Proverbs (and also the Book of Ecclesiastes) provide mines of data and workable information that could be life-saving if only obeyed. The saddest story is realized when the person espousing some of that wisdom became perhaps the biggest fool of all. Solomon had the unique privilege of asking from God "whatever he wanted" and this wise man, even as a young man, asked for WISDOM. Not power, might or wealth. And he received from God what he asked for, and more! Yet, as he became engrossed in his life of power and wealth, his choices were not always wise. He married outside the Jewish family - more specifically into a nation whose god was not Jehovah and being human he thus began to allow pagan dogmas to influence him and in a matter of time all his wisdom proved that even the most wise man can become as a fool. But profoundly, the name SOLOMON still rings out clear as a bell, the message: "...whoever listens to me (WISDOM) will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm..." (Proverbs 1:33) You will have to read the entire first chapter to glean the complete concept of "wisdom" as personified by King Solomon. It seems even this wise man did not know what he did not know - he was only human. And he was capable of making mistakes and even sin against the God who gave him the gift of wisdom. That principle needs repeated: "If you don't know what you don't know, you are in big trouble."

HAPPINESS to a young married couple can be a fleeting thing if either party forgets everlasting principles that have shone like beacons at the top of light houses. The fog of life, as in the fog of the sea, can serve to blinding us from seeing danger whether it be the rocks and shoals or an improper desire or decision. That kind of wisdom too can be found in the book of Proverbs; specifically, read the first six verses of chapter five but kindred wisdom is on every page of the book. Another word from the book of Proverbs 6:20-26 for those concerned about principles with everlasting values.

IN DEBT TO FOREIGN NATIONS --- a strange, to some, principle lies within the pages of the Scripture too, where no nation should allow itself to be strapped or indebted to another nation at the cost of its continued existence. Specifically God commanded his children, the Hebrews, never to allow this to happen. By the way, that is where Solomon began to have problems, when one of his wives was the princess of Egypt. How do you say "no" to a beautiful, rich, powerful woman? Well, as I read somewhere, "No" is a complete sentence (believe it or not). But, Solomon, and a host of other wise males are quick to learn how to avoid a hot tongue and a cold shoulder. Again, however, who we allow to guide our lives is a part of those everlasting principles I write.

THE WORDWRIGHT encourages you to make the book of Proverbs a daily devotional - there are 31 chapters too, one for each day (of the long months that is).