He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty (Proverbs 28:19).

Some Proverbs are rare and unusual; reading them is like experiencing an epiphany or discovering a hidden treasure.  Some Proverbs sound familiar, like you heard them once long ago when you were a kid, but when you hear it again it's comforting and reassuring.  Proverbs 28:19, however, is one Proverb that regularly surfaces in conversation throughout Western culture today.  The words have been translated a bit to fit contemporary contexts, but the meaning is surprisingly unchanged.  Essentially, we are being reminded of this Proverb whenever someone says, "Don't quit your day job."

For those who might not be familiar with the phrase, it's typically used in the context of someone trying to demonstrate some kind of artistic talent: singing, acting, playing a musical instrument, dancing, painting.  While the individual is seemingly convinced that he's got serious, noteworthy talent that might someday land him on Broadway, or on Hollywood's silver screens, or playing at half-time of the Superbowl -- it's obvious to everyone else that he's not quite up to snuff.  That is, even though he might think he's pretty talented and "ready for the big time," it might not be so wise to quit that job bussing tables or mowing lawns in order to "pursue the dream" in that particular moment.

I was once told, "Don't quit your day job" on Chicago's Miracle Mile.  My brother was going to college in downtown Chicago, and a couple of friends and I went to visit him one weekend.  While we were there, walking through the city, we watched a number of different street performers, and we said to ourselves:  "Hey, we could do that."  So on impulse, we went back to my brother's dorm room, grabbed his guitar, and then positioned ourselves on the broad plaza leading up to the John Hancock Tower, just across from Water Tower Place.  My brother took out his guitar -- leaving the guitar case open, of course, so people could make their contributions to our art -- and we started singing some Beatles' songs and Simon & Garfunkel songs and whatever else we could think of to play.  We weren't rehearsed, and we weren't particularly talented even.  We didn't even get a dime in the gape guitar case.  But we were having fun.  Several people who were passing by, though, smiled politely or kind of laughed to themselves.  One lady, however, came by and loudly suggested to the woman beside her, "I hope they don't quit their day jobs."  Another gentleman passing by said it more directly, with a sense of playful irony:  "Don't quit your day jobs, boys."  After about ten minutes of playing and singing, some of the security personnel from the John Hancock Tower came over to us and asked us to leave -- and so concluded our short-lived careers as street performers.  The whole experience didn't amount to much except a photograph that we coerced my girlfriend to take of us and a semi-amusing anecdote that fits in with the theme of "Don't quit your day job."

Suffice to say, it's important for us to remember that willpower and perseverance and dreams are often not enough to "make it" in the world.  Sometimes, popular culture will try to tell us otherwise -- but if we really think about it, we'll realize that it's something that's got to be done on the evenings and weekends, if it's going to be done at all.  Sure, I would personally love to be a writer; but it wouldn't be responsible for me to quit everything else that I'm doing to focus on publishing my break-out novel.  It's a great dream to have, and a worthy hobby to which I can commit myself.  But I shouldn't quit my day job, in the process, no matter how great that temptation may be at times.  "He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty."  It's OK to have dreams and fantasies, but it's not OK to just live in that world and cast everything else aside.  Paying the bills is not really a noble thing, but it is a necessary thing.  If God works it out that the "land" we work might someday be an artistic endeavor (or whatever), then great.  But in the meantime, don't quit your day job.