The Nugget:
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Proverbs 14:13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
My Comment:
There are many different opinions about how to get to heaven. Different churches teach some very different ideas about how to be saved, or whether or not people can be sure in this life that they are saved. Individuals often have their own opinion. But as a memory verse teaching about the plan of salvation, the point of these two verses (Proverbs 14:12, 13) is that what we may believe may seem right to us, but though we may be very sincere, it is possible to be sincerely wrong. We can even make jokes about the matter, and suppose the subject is not important. But if we turn out to be wrong, our jokes and our disdain for the subject will be no laughing matter. To be certain we are right about these things, we must compare what we believe with what the Bible actually teaches. I suspect if people would start reading and studying their Bibles apart from denominational literature they might be very surprised by what they learn.
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 665 for Proverbs 14:12-13.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 706 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Proverbs 14:12-13.
(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:
Proverbs 14:12. is a way. Pr 12:15. 15:24. 16:12, 17, *#25. 30:12. Ps +*119:104. Is 53:6. Mt **7:13, 14. Lk 13:24. Ro 6:21. Ga 6:3. Ep *5:6. Ja *1:22. seemeth right. Pr 3:7. 25:8. Jg 17:6, 13. 21:25. 1 K 12:27-33. 14:7-11. 2 Ch 35:20-24. Lk *8:18. Jn 16:2. Ac 13:50. Ph 3:4-7. 1 T 1:13. Ja **1:26. the end. ver. 13. Pr 5:4, 11. 16:25. ways of death. Pr 16:25. Ps +*1:6. Je 21:8. Ro *6:21.
Proverbs 14:13. in laughter. T#479. Pr 5:4. 21:17. Jb 21:11-14. Ec 2:1, 2, 10, 11. 7:2-5, 6. 11:9, 10. Lk 6:25. *16:25. 1 C 10:7. Ep +2:3 (T#698). Ja 4:9. 1 P +4:7 (T#711). 2 P 2:13. Re 18:7, 8. is sorrowful. 1 S 25:36, 37. Ec 2:2. Da 5:1-6, 30. Am 6:3-7. Re 18:7, 8. the end. Pr 5:3, 4.