You sow, you reap!

Day 5

10:5 He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

The harvest theme continues, and again we are shocked that someone might sleep when the rest of the community is working hard. A wise son joins in, of course he does, it's the right thing to do. But the foolish son is called disgraceful. No doubt he will want the benefits later on but not the effort now; how the previous proverb speaks, lazy hands really do make a man poor.

How might this proverb reflect on church activities? The agricultural setting is helpful in thinking this through with everybody working for the common good. However our western culture praises individualism and this filters through into church life; how dare my pastor point out my sin, who does he think he is? Why does my Christian brother say that to me? He should keep his nose out! But the New Testament tells us we are part of a body. We need each other, so when we don't play our part whatever that part may be, we are the foolish son, we are disgraceful.

As we reflect over the last few posts we have a helpful introduction to the two ways laid out in the book of Proverbs. We might want to argue that life isn't as black and white like that. We might shout out in frustration life is grey sometimes. And in many ways the greyness is where we dwell, yet we constantly have these two competing voices crying out, lady Wisdom (Proverbs 2:20) calls aloud in the street as does woman Folly (9:13) who will we listen to. Don't settle for anything less than lady Wisdom. Life is often grey but let’s not settle for that.

Rise and shine.

Day 4

10:4 Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

There can be many reasons for poverty, just as there can be many reasons for wealth not all within the control of the person. The contrast here highlights the rightness of work. Just as a mark of our wise son is diligence in work so a mark of a foolish son is laziness in life, he has no one to blame but himself. The setting was in an agricultural society and in that setting it is really quite clear that if you are lazy at planting time or weeding or if stray or wild animals can get in, you will grow poor and hungry because something else is eating your crops! However, in our day our lazy son might win the lottery or he might inherit money whereas our wise son's field might be overgrown and overrun because he's gone away on mission, or he might be ill, maybe he’s busy serving the poor; the proverb has it's limitations as all proverbs do. So whilst in life and in work it may often be true, laziness in spiritual matters brings poverty every time, and diligence in spiritual things brings great wealth that cannot be measured in monetary terms.

Perhaps your walk with the Lord is lacking and you are looking for something to blame or someone to blame yet the responsibility ultimately lies with you to work out your salvation, to apply yourself diligently to wisdom.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Never go hungry?

Day 3.

10:3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

Proverbs are gritty observations on life; they are not universal truths to be applied to every situation. Are we really going to say that righteous people have never starved in famines? Are we really saying that the cravings of the wicked are always thwarted? That’s just not the case, famines kill the righteous as well as the wicked, and whilst I’ve no doubt there are many cases of God’s providence at work for which we must praise him there are many times when Christians do go hungry.

But of course if we think deeper we can ask the question what is the final destination of the righteous and the wicked? Ultimately the righteous will be with Him; as Revelation 21;4 says  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” And ultimately the wicked will be cast from His presence. This side of the return of Christ there will be times of blessing and times of pain, the other side joy unspeakable. So yes, two paths only for the father's son, two ways to live life; which will you choose?

On the fiddle.

Day 2.

10:2 Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,
but righteousness delivers from death.

One mark of a foolish son is moral ambiguity. Ill-gotten treasures can be anything from outright stealing, fiddling a tax return, cheating on benefits and a whole host of other things. In some cultures corruption is the norm and when you have corruption in high places it trickles down, everybody is doing it. How do we resist such a culture? In Matthew 5 v13-16 Jesus talks about being salt and light; salt stops the rot and light shines in dark places. A simple no might cause you problems because it highlights another’s sinfulness but it might also make them think.

Of course you could easily argue that the writer is wrong here. £100 gained honestly has just as much value as the same amount acquired dishonestly, Ill-gotten treasures are still treasure, they still buy the same amount of things, but of course it's the contrast that speaks to us; righteousness delivers from death. The father is teaching his son the value of eternal treasures rather than financial management principles. We're not building bank accounts on earth but laying up treasure in heaven. Eternity is in view.

Matthew 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Joyful dads, miserable mothers

Day 1

Proverbs 10:1 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

This proverb is not about the contrast between joyful fathers and grieving mothers but it's about the son's actions and how they reflect on the parent. As a proverb it is wisely placed at the beginning because the book of Proverbs presents us with two paths. Will we take the path of wisdom or will we take the path of foolishness? Proverbs is presented to us in the style of a father teaching the child. Perhaps we are to imagine Solomon sitting down with little Rehoboam and teaching him; you are going to have difficult decisions to take, this is how you are to make them.

A wise son has a teachable spirit, do we? Of course the Bible is our textbook and Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By reading and applying the scripture we will be wise sons.

Sadly neither father nor son lived up to the standard set in this book; fortunately one greater than Solomon is here. Matthew 12:42

Early worms and hungry birds

Over the years I’ve gone from struggling with the book of Proverbs to really enjoying it. The key was a commentary and a preaching series; the commentary was the Proverbs edition of the New International Version Application Commentary by Paul Koptak and the preaching series was to the folks at Prettygate Baptist church and was supposed to be a short summer series but lasted till October. We focussed on the first nine chapters but kept getting tempted by more and more of the book. The general approach has been to look at the individual proverbs topically but Koptak helpfully shows that whilst they can stand alone the original compilers didn’t group them together randomly but linked them around key words and ideas not always obvious if you don’t speak Hebrew. I tend to rush reading these chapters where they demand time; this is an attempt to give them some time. Take a year maybe; let’s get to know Lady Wisdom, lets get some of her skill for living.

 

As we begin our look at Proverbs it’s worth stating the obvious that a proverb is a proverb; it’s not a doctrinal statement neither is it a truth for all situations at all times, rather it’s an honest observation of how life works. The early bird might catch the worm but it’s the early worm that gets eaten! We can describe them as tools to pull out of a box when needed, or skillful lessons for navigating life successfully.