Proverbs 14:23

Proverbs 14:23 "In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury."

This proverb is one of Solomon's finest and should be one of our most memorized.  Life, if done properly, is a lot of labor.  From birth to death, life requires a lot of effort.  Early in life, learning to crawl, walk and ride a bike take a lot of effort.  Later in life, getting to the bathroom or climbing the stairs can seem to require just as much effort.  In between those extreme stages of life is work, work and more work.  Getting an education is a matter of work.  Getting a job is for the purpose of working and keeping that job requires a commitment to working hard.  Dating is work.  Marriage is even more work.  Giving birth is labor, literally.  Parenting is a lot of work.  Owning and maintaining a home is non-stop physical work.  Possessing a friendship demands relational work.  Walking with God and disciplining the body necessitate spiritual work.  Even enjoying the pleasures of life requires work, such as cooking and baking to enjoy eating as well as researching and practicing to enjoy hobbies.

It can be easy to see a lot of the labor of life as a waste of time.  It can be easy to view much of the work required in life as a waste of effort.  To many, the relational effort required to make marriage work isn't worth it.  To some, the physical work necessary to fix their house isn't worth it.  To others, the level and type of work certain jobs require just isn't worth the pay.  According to Solomon, all labor is profitable.  No matter the hourly wage or annual income, any form of physical labor is profitable.  No matter the relational outcome, any form of relational labor is profitable.  No matter the final product, any amount of effort on that particular project is profitable.  Labor, no matter what kind, is profitable in some way or another.  Regardless of the financial benefit, work always profits us.  That profit may come in the form of health benefits such as killing calories or building muscles.  It may also come in the form of learning skills or refining abilities.  The profit of this proverb may also come in the form of gaining wisdom or earning a friend.
 
In our world, work is always a good thing.  We were made to work by Divine Design.  When created, Adam was placed in the garden and given purpose in working with the ground he came from.  When created, Eve was placed in Adam's arms and given purpose in working with the man she came from.  Whether for physical work or relational work, we're wired to work.  From the beginning, mankind was given a job to do and that job to "multiply and replenish the Earth" was a lifelong job.  Sin complicated the goodness of work by bringing the curse. The curse brought thorns to the ground and sweat to the man's brow, which makes a man feel like the physical work isn't worth the hassle.  The curse brought sorrow and impossible expectations to a woman's soul, which makes a woman feel like the relational work isn't worth it.  Since the fall, men now struggle seeing the profit in labor after calculating the sweat it will cost them to finish the job.  Since the fall, women now struggle seeing the profit in relationships after calculating the disappointment it will cost them obtain that relational goal.  According to Scripture, there is still profit in all labor.  It's still worth the sweat.  It's still worth the time.  It's still worth the disappointment.  It's still worth the frustration.  No matter the kind of labor, it's still worth the energy.  It may not be as profitable as you and I would like but all labor pays in some form of currency.  

Because of the challenges of working in a cursed world, we easily focus on those challenges.  We complain about the sweat.  We bemoan the sorrow.  We hate the resistance the curse has brought to life.  Rather than get to work, we tend to talk.  We talk about the job we want to get someday.  We talk about the promotion we think we deserve.  We talk about the ideal career with the ideal life.  We talk about the business idea that we think will require as little effort as possible while making us rich.  We talk about what we want to do or what we plan on doing.  We talk about the friendship we wished we had.  We talk about the marriage we think we deserve.  We talk about what we wish we had.  To that human instinct to talk instead of work, Solomon essentially says, "Talk is Cheap."  Talking isn't bad but when it keeps us from working, it tends to penury, or extreme poverty.  Talking about what we're going to do at the expense of doing what we're supposed to do is unprofitable.  Discussing a plan is good but if discussions delay working, they'll cultivate a false sense of productivity.  Solomon knew that it's easy for people to fool themselves into thinking good intentions are good enough.  He knew that the human heart so easily can mistake big talk as ambition when in reality, it is often nothing more than a cloak for laziness.
 
The talking of the lips only leads to profit when it is paired with the working of the hands.  When the lips and the hands don't agree simultaneously, those lips will silence the hands and that will result in serious poverty.  This is true in the workforce, on the property, within the soul and in relationships.  Talking without working leads to great physical, emotional, spiritual and financial loss.  The lips have a way of justifying not working.  They have a way of blaming everyone and everything else for not working.  They have a way of excusing not working and convincing themselves and others of a better plan or a brighter future.  With or without lips, physical and relational hands always bring profit to the soul whereas the lips without the hands bring great loss to the soul.  Don't be fooled by your lips or by anyone else's lips, work is always good.