Proverbs 20

Proverbs 20.   Along the Way

It has been forty years since I first read the Book of Proverbs.  At first, I thought the writer had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) by the way he jumped from one topic to another then another and another....Well, you get the point.

But then I realized his writings were also Inspired by God the Holy Spirit just as Matthew, Luke, John and all the rest of the Bible. This Holy Book is filled with bite size nuggets, fitting just right in life's busy schedule!  They are clear, simple words of wisdom that we can apply on an instant and daily basis. I want to give you a few from chapter 20 that have helped and guided me along this Journey.

V1. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. "

In my B.C. Days (before Christ)  I, like so many others, believed I could handle alcohol.  I recall believing I was even a better driver after a few drinks!  How many tens of thousands of families have had their lives devastated with a knock at the door and standing there a messenger that there loved would was not coming home, a drinking driver killed them, but he walked away! Think about it!

My next one is verse 4, " A sluggard (lazy person) does not plow in autumn; he will seek at harvest but find nothing!"

My father was killed when I was four, leaving my mother to raise four children by herself. She never sat down to simply watch a television show, but in her hands was a needle and thread or some work that needed doing. I saw her her put her feet in plastic bags because there were holes in her shoes, as she stood long hours on wet, cold concrete floors in a local meat packing plant.  Laziness is a despicable sin!

A hand up is one thing, but handouts make slaves out of people! It teaches dependence and then expectations that that helping hand is their right.  "If a man will not work, neither shall he eat!" Says the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul.  Note it did not say "If a man cannot work, or cannot find work...but if a man will not work!"  Note the difference.

There is "honor in all labor!" Declares God.  The work available may not be what you want, or pay what you have made or think you deserve, but to refuse to work when it is available is a sin against God, your family and yourself!  Work builds character and as God gave us in verse 6, God looks for "a faithful man" to bless the "work of his hands!"

There are others, but time and space will not allow but this last golden nugget,
Verse 29, "the glory of a young man is his strength, the splendor of an old man is his silver hair!" Both have their time and  place in in our lives.  I am now in the "splendor" place of life. Still in pretty good shape, still strong in body.  But beneath these silver locks lies four decades of experiential wisdom that comes only with time of walking with God!  I tell you truthfully as King David did, "I was once young, but now I am old, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread!"

Give God something to bless!  Be wise enough to study His Word and discover the golden nuggets of wisdom that are yours simply for the taking! Be blessed!

Rev. John Watford
Lead Pastor
nbcornerstone.com