Encapsulated within today’s reading is a list of 30 wise sayings. Things like this should be taught in school. Why in the world do we teach our children how to read, write and calculate, but we neglect teaching them how to grow socially and spiritually? These readings are great character building tips!
Have you ever heard of “Preview and Review” as it pertains to devotions and prayer? Preview prayer is the act of praying over everything that you have planned, or that you think may happen today. Review, then, is praying at the end of the day and thanking God for the answers that you received, asking your questions about “why did this happen” or just being reflective in general. As I begin my day today, my thoughts race with the knowledge of many things that should be accomplished before our Conference on Sunday. As I “preview” today, my prayer is that God will help me stay calm and focused on what truly is important, and not allow the unimportant to affect my attitude or good habits.
As I read today, I summarize a large portion of the text by saying “the wise person and the Godly person are the same person” and, the wise person not only prepares for the future, but is blessed as well, so things turn out doubly good for them. On the other hand, the ignorant, evil or ungodly person doesn’t prepare (they are sometimes called lazy, but not always) and then on top of that, God withholds his blessings, so that their feeble efforts fall short anyway…even if they would have been marginally sufficient, they end up failing because they didn’t honor God. I’m sure there are examples that also “push back” against my thought here, so I don’t want to turn this into a doctrine, just an observation. For instance: the wise and foolish (or the Christian and the non-believer) both plant a garden…the non-believer doesn’t water his plants as often, and puts them in the wrong soil, and doesn’t get around to putting up his deer and rabbit fencing. The wise man does all those things, and also adds some fertilizer and a few other tricks that he has learned from others. In the end, the garden of the wise man produces 10 times what the ignorant man’s garden produced…but not all of it is because of his wisdom, it’s God’s blessing on the garden. Obedience leads to blessings, and blessings are more important than our preparations. The word “garden” is simply a metaphor for: marriage, your job, your relationships with others, your relationship with God, your ministry at the local church, just about anything you could do. As you “preview” your day, don’t forget to ask God to keep you obedient and open to instruction. Blessings from Him are more important than your best effort.
More later….
Okay, it’s later (the next day, actually) and I re-read a portion of the text that I wanted to be sure to comment on. 23:29 and following…where the wise man is warning the student about drinking to excess. Unless you live in a bubble, you know that our society has serious problems with drugs and alcohol. What makes it even more serious is that when we look at other countries that used to be where we are now, we find unemployment rates of 50%, children unable to find jobs and live on their own into their 30’s, and a general malaise about the common good, or working in general. This is an epidemic that we are facing…Oh, by the way….alcoholism is higher in these countries, and the drinking age is lower. Do you know what they have less of? Church attenders. If we don’t wake up and pay attention to what’s going on here, we are going to end up just like they are today. Too many people believe that having wine and other alcoholic beverages around the house is a good thing, or at least a “neutral” thing, but it’s not. I am well aware that you cannot watch most television shows without seeing the characters either drink or talk about drinking, or engaging in some other unhealthy behavior. The wise teacher from ancient times is telling his pupil to avoid being attracted to drinking. He isn’t saying “drinking alcoholic beverages is a sin” but he is saying “drinking leads to wanting to drink, and wanting to drink is a prelude to death”. In all the people that I have counseled I find that the addicts almost always find someone else to blame for what’s wrong in their life. According to them, they are more qualified than the people around them, they are friendlier and harder workers…they aren’t employed because the boss “has it in for them” or he/she has “a favorite”. There’s always an excuse, and in the beginning stages of the addiction, big dreams with nothing of substance to back it up. By the time most of these folks have become critically addicted it seems that I have lost contact, so I’m not sure where this ends up with them…besides poverty and loneliness.
If you are reading this, do yourself a favor and refuse to buy into the social pressure to drink. Any recovering alcoholic can tell you that it would have been better for them if they had never started. Life is better, and more fun, and more productive without alcohol and drugs. Anyone who tells you differently is peddling deception. Beware.
This whole passage is talking about being wise. For Pete’s sake, be wise and don’t pick up the bottle, or the pill, or the needle. Wisdom will lead you away from addictions, or even sampling addictive things…and away from people who encourage you to sample them.
Faithfully,
PR