Proverbs Chapter 24

Proverbs 24:30-31 (ESV) "I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down."

One of the most observable facts in our world is the fact that things tend to go from order to disorder. You don’t have to look far to see this "law" in action. Try planting a garden. Till the ground. Take out the rocks. Plant your seeds in neat and orderly rows. Then do nothing to the garden for several weeks. Don’t water it. Don’t pull weeds. Don’t prune your plants. After a couple of months you will have a jungle not a garden. Weeds will grow up around your plants and your harvest will be minimal at best. Houses and cars will go the route of falling apart if not tended. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find anything that will get better if left alone and untended. This is true in the physical world but more importantly in the world of our lives and relationships.

Our lives are built on relationships. We have relationships with family that must be tended in order to grow and not fall apart. Husbands and wives must put work and energy into their marriage or it will become overgrown with the weeds of life. The husband must love and provide for his wife. The wife must respect her husband. They have to work hard to overcome their natural differences so they can flourish as one. Parents and children cannot just meander through life living in the same house and expect to have strong and healthy relationships. They must work at it. Parents must lovingly guide, teach and even discipline their children and the children must respond to this instruction. And then we find special people in our lives and call them friends. It takes work to make that friendship to grow. We have to be ready for a little "iron sharpening iron" in the friendship. We have to be ready for the gentle rebuke or even the unkind word spoken in moments of distress or frustration. There is a common theme in all of these relationships. They take time, energy and attention in order to for them to grow. If left unattended they will get worse not better.

One final relationship that is the most important of all is our relationship with God Almighty. He is our Father and our friend. He desires to build a relationship with us. It takes work and He has done His part. Jesus Christ came to earth and paved the way for our relationship to Him by dying on that old rugged cross. He paid the debt for all of our sins so that we could come into a blessed relationship with Him. He continues to do His part faithfully by guiding us with His Word through the Holy Spirit. The problem in this relationship is that we fail to do our part. We become like the sluggard lacking sense who just lets it go. He doesn’t care for it or tend it. Soon the weeds grow up and the thorns come in and the relationship is much less than what God intended it to be. We have to put time, energy and attention into this most important of relationships. We must read His Word. We must pray. We must walk with Him daily. We must exercise spiritual discipline if we want to grow strong in the Lord.

God help us to be people who work at our relationships. Let us put energy and care into relationships with our families and our friends. Let us be patient and understanding with those around us. And please help us to be active in pursuing a close relationship with you. Amen.

You Can't Steer a Parked Car

This idea started back when I was in Bible College studying for the ministry. Here I was, 18 years old, thrilled to be able to serve the Lord. I was surrounded by many young adults of like mind and it was great! However, amongst all this excitement and enthusiasm there was an element of doubt and uncertainty. All the doubt seemed to center around one question worded in a variety of ways. “What does God want me to do with my life?” or “What is God calling me to do?” These questions seemed to be on the minds of most of the students I met and talked with.

I probably knew less about any of this than most of my classmates but in my youthful ignorance the answer I kept giving to my fellow students was “What are you doing for the Lord right now?” “Are you obeying the plain simple commands of Scripture that leave little room for doubt and uncertainty?” I would refer to verses like “Love you neighbor as yourself”, “Pray without ceasing”, “Go into all the world and preach” and “Be obedient to them that are your masters”. I was certainly no spiritual giant. I was young and impetuous but had a strong desire to do God’s will. It just made sense to me that if I did God’s will today I would know or at least be in God’s will when tomorrow arrived.

What really bothered me then was that many of these folks who were so focused on the question of what to do tomorrow, did little or nothing today. They were frozen in place by questions and doubts about their future. They had plans but no direction. They had ideas but no action that would make their ideas a reality. Over the years I have spent a lot of time contemplating this pervasive phenomenon and have developed an analogy to explain it. I call it “You can’t steer a parked car.”

From time to time I will be posting my thoughts on this subject using the analogy of taking a road trip. I will look at all the various parts of this trip; planning, roadblocks, detours, rest-stops, getting lost, breaking down, running out of gas, etc. I want to look at the various reasons why some people never seem to get on the roadway of life. If you are one of those folks, it is my prayer that you will be able overcome your own excuses and get the car in gear. If this is not a problem for you then maybe a friend or loved one is afraid to get on the road and you will be able to encourage them. Whatever the case, I hope that you will be blessed and encouraged from these words about the parked car.

Proverbs Chapter 23

Proverbs 23:17-18 (ESV)
"Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off."

You sit at your desk holding your head in both hands. Your stress level is way off the charts. One of your two cars is broken down and in the shop. It looks to be a major expense for which there is no money in the bank. The hospital is calling to collect the rest of the bill from the surgery. The boss is talking about layoffs. You wonder if you can take any more bad news and stress. You look at others you work with or know and life seems to be great for them. How can that be? They don’t even go to church. They might not be Christians. Yet everything seems to be going well for them. You’re trying to live right and do all the right things with your family and everything is falling apart.

There is no doubt in my mind that you have had similar thoughts and questions at some time in your life. If not you will have. When you do, keep these verses in Proverbs 23 in mind. Don’t envy the sinner and the good that seems to fill his life. For that matter don’t begrudge him either for how well things are going for him. Your duty and mine is to reverence or fear God. It’s a matter focus. Instead of focusing on all the struggles of daily living and the apparent blessing on others lives, we should focus on Jehovah. He is still the Almighty God who created heaven and earth and all that is therein. He still loves you and cares for you. He cares about the stress in your life. And I can guarantee you that He has not left the throne. He has not turned His back on you. Quite the contrary. The struggles you face are part of His plan to draw you closer to Him.

There is a future. The struggle you are going through right now will not last forever. It will end. The strength and growth you gain in your current trial will make you stronger to face the next one. And the lessons you learn from the next one will make you wiser when you come to the one after that. The point is that there is purpose in your trials and struggles. And the hope you have is a lasting hope. It is a hope that is sure. It is a hope based on the one constant in the universe, God Himself.

I want to encourage you on two levels. The Bible tells us that sometime in the future of those in the family of God there is coming a day when "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Rev 21:4) This, of course, is our ultimate hope. The hope of eternal life. However, I believe that the promise of a good future and a sure hope is much more current. God intends for His children to live in that hope right now. In the midst of the stresses of daily life. In the midst of piled up bills. In the midst of poor health. In the midst of an uncertain economy. In the midst of (name your own trial). God desires for each of us a life of more than just enduring and getting by. He wants for us a life of victory. Jesus told us in John 10:10 "I am come that they (us, His sheep) might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This means a life superior in quality and super-abundant in quantity.

Fear God today and live in His abundance. Hold on to the sure hope that will not be cut off. Don’t look to the example of the lives of those around you but look to the Almighty who holds your life and future in the palm of His hands.

Proverbs Chapter 22

Proverbs 22:24-25 (ESV)
"Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,
lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare."

A case could very well be made that peer pressure is one of the greatest influences in society. We tend to take on the characteristics of those with whom we hang out. Peer pressure is a part of life and not only life as a teenager or adolescent. Adults are very much affected by peer pressure. Peer pressure can be good or bad. It seems however, that peer pressure tends to be more negative than positive. It’s a part of the natural state of this fallen world. Without an intentional input of positive energy and orderly design everything tends to go from good-to-bad and from bad-to-worse.

In Proverbs 22:24-25 Solomon gives us some counsel on fighting the negative influence of peer pressure. There are a few very interesting words in these verses. The word for friendship literally means to "pasture or graze with". The idea is to be a "constant companion of". In our culture we might say "to hang out with". Another word of note is the first word here translated "man". This is not the normal word for man that we see later in the verse. This first word for man is from the Hebrew word "ba’al". This is, of course, the name of one of the Canaanite deities. It means master, owner, or possessor. The idea is of a man who has strong influence. He can "own control of" or "possess" another’s will, thoughts and actions. In this verse he is a man given to anger but the principle is true for any immoral behavior that is part of this "ba’al". This is a very dangerous man to "pasture with". Solomon writes that if we "hang out" with a "ba’al" we will learn his ways. This does not indicate that the "ba’al" has to actively teach his immoral ways. The idea is that by being his companion you will learn his ways by simple association. There would be a subtle shift in thinking and behavior until your ways were very much in line with his. You would become "snared" and not even realize it.

So what can we do about this danger of very destructive peer pressure? There must be a very intentional input of positive and Godly influences. We should be a daily "companion" of God’s Word. We should "pasture and graze" with others who would encourage us to grow in our Christian life. We must be careful to recognize a "ba’al" type of man and avoid him. We must teach our young people of the danger of "ba’als". We must try with every tool at our disposal to find good influences for our children. And we should try to be for others the positive peer pressure that we seek and desire for our own lives.

The "ba’al" man is a dangerous force to be reckoned with and the trap is real. But we do have a God who is greater and stronger. Where sin abounds His grace abounds even more. Where we are weak, He is strong. Turn to Him and let Him surround you with His strength. Humble yourself before Him and resist the devil and his "ba’al". "Hang out" with the Lord Almighty and His people for a life filled with positive peer pressure.

Proverbs Chapter 21

Proverbs 21:23 (ESV)
"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."

There is no quicker and surer way to get yourself into trouble than with the excessive and unwise use of your tongue. Isn’t it amazing that so little a part of our body can produce such pain and hurt in the lives of people. An inappropriate and harshly spoken word can immediately put a wall between family members or good friends. A parent who speaks only criticism to a child can cause hurt that may take years to heal. Lies, rumors or even jokes spoken at the expense of another person can have devastating effects on that person’s emotional state. Words spoken in anger at the wrong time may cause you to be missing some front teeth.

We could go on and on about the dangers of the misuse of our mouth or tongue. The Scriptures deal extensively with the subject of the tongue. In Proverbs we can read that there is sin in the multitude of words and that a wide open mouth shall bring destruction. James calls the tongue a raging fire, a world of iniquity, an untamed beast, an unruly evil and deadly poison. We don’t have to read very far in the Scriptures to see the potential evil of the human tongue and we don’t have to look very hard in the world around us to see the damage caused by the unrestrained and evil use of the tongue. Fortunately for us God also gives us many strategies for bringing our tongues under control. Here are just a few.

Here in Proverbs 21:23 we are told to "keep" our mouth and our tongue. To keep could be translated to guard, to watch, to protect or to put a hedge of thorns around something. So Solomon is telling us to put a hedge around our mouth and guard it so as to keep ourselves out of trouble. Maybe thorns in figurative hedge would cause a little pain as our mouth begins to move excessively and remind us to keep it closed.

Another Biblical strategy for controlling the tongue is simply to use it less. "He that has knowledge spares his words..." - Proverbs 17:27. "... he that refrains his lips is wise." Proverbs 10:19. In James we are told to be "swift to hear and slow to speak". The more we speak the more potential there is for us to speak wrongly and get ourselves into trouble.

A third strategy is to control what goes into our minds and our hearts thus giving our tongue a better source of raw material. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul writes that we are to be filled with the Spirit. It is interesting that the very next phrase deals with speaking. He says that our speaking will be psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing to the Lord and thanksgiving. In Colossians 3:16, a similar verse is found but in this verse the cause of spiritual speaking is letting "the Word of Christ dwell in you richly". As we allow the Holy Spirit to use the Word of God to renew and transform our sinful hearts we will be more likely to speak good rather than evil.

God help us to guard our tongues. Help us to limit the words we speak. Renew us from the inside with your Word. May we speak that which draws others to your love and mercy. May we build up and not destroy with our words. And may our lips glorify you. Amen!

Proverbs Chapter 20

Proverbs 20:7
"The just man walks in his integrity: his children are blessed after him."

In airports around the country there are teams of people whose sole job is to check the integrity of aircraft. They have machines that "see" past the surface of the airplane to check the seams and joints under the surface. This is a good thing. Without these inspections the companies who own the aircraft would not know when to ground a plane for repairs or when a plane needs to be completely retired from service. No one would willingly fly on a plane knowing that the structural integrity of the plane was in question. Integrity is very important in airplanes. And it is very important in how we live our lives.

Proverbs 20:7 says that a just or righteous man walks in integrity. It is his way of life. The word integrity means whole or complete. A man whose life is characterized by integrity is one whose motives are honest and his character is upright. I think if this one quality characterized the majority of businessmen in our country then we wouldn’t have the financial problems we are having. That’s not to say there aren’t honest business owners. There are honest business people in every locality in our great country and we are thankful for them. We feel safe doing business with them. We know we will get a good product or service and that they will stand behind it. When we find a truly honest businessman we go back to them over and over again. Another idea behind this word, integrity, is a person who is transparent and free of duplicity. In other words he is the same on the inside that he is on the outside. He looks like a Christian, acts like a Christian and if you could look inside you would see the same Christian. This man is secure in who he is. He is at peace with himself. He is real. He is at peace because he is not trying to live a double-life.

The man who walks in integrity, is honest in his dealings, is at peace with himself and doesn’t try to be one thing on the outside and another on the inside, is a man who inspires those who come after him. In particular, his children are blessed. They are happy. Just like we feel safe doing business with a man of integrity so children feel safe following a man of integrity. Our children need someone like this to follow. In a world where greed seems to rule the day and deception is as much a part of life as eating, children need a Godly example. They need to feel safe, happy and blessed. They need to see that a life with Christ, lived in integrity is possible and not only possible but profitable and worthwhile. They need to see you be that man or that woman who walks in integrity.