If you are too lazy to plow in the right season, you will have no food at the harvest. If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!
Proverbs 20:4, 13 (NLT)
Friends, this week we are going to look at a few Scriptures from one of my favorite books in the Bible, the book of Proverbs. I love that book!
Although Proverbs is only thirty-one chapters long, it contains many valuable nuggets of wisdom. That wisdom, if implemented, can improve our lives—financially, domestically, and spiritually.
So if you haven’t already read Proverbs, then read it. Moreover, if you have already read it, then read it again. You cannot read it too many times.
So let’s get started and jump right into our opening verses, Proverbs 20:4 and 13.
Verse 4 encompasses more than just plowing and growing food. That one verse teaches us that in order to enjoy a harvest, we must diligently work. In addition to working for our current needs, we must also carefully plan and save for our future needs.
Oh, I realize that working, planning, and saving are not popular words in our society today. At times, our flesh man can become lazy. In addition, we sometimes lust for instant gratification, and consequently, we end up wasting money on unnecessary things. Really, how many cars, trucks, or motorcycles can one person drive at a time?
Verse 13, suggests that if we keep our eyes open and look for good opportunities, we will find them; “…there will be plenty to eat.”
From those two short verses (4 and 13), we learn that we should diligently work, save and plan. If we do our part, then God promises to provide our needs. On the other hand, if we follow our flesh and insist on wasting money, then we should not cry when we cannot buy groceries or pay rent. Our needs are more important than our wants; thus, we must first learn to save and plan for our needs.
“The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children after them” (Proverbs 20:7, NLT). Christian parents love their children, and as such, they are willing to do everything that they can to help them. Proverbs 20:7 tells us how we can help our children…walk with integrity.
According to Webster’s Universal College Dictionary (2001), integrity means “uncompromising adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.” From that same dictionary, we learn that blessed means; “consecrated; sacred;” “divinely or supremely favored;” and “blissfully happy.”
Thus, when we live and walk in an uncompromising adherence to God’s Word, our children are favored of God and they will ultimately be blissfully happy. A parent’s obedience to God has a direct affect on his or her children.
“Ears to hear and eyes to see—both are gifts from the Lord” (Proverbs 20: 12, NLT). This short verse reminds us that everything good comes from God. Not only does this include our physical ears and eyes, but it also includes our spiritual ears and eyes. They are all gifts from God!
God offers each of us an opportunity to enter into a spiritual relationship with Him. When we take Him up on His offer and accept His gift, then our spiritual ears and eyes miraculously open. We begin to hear and see the works of God’s Spirit. We hear Him speak to our hearts and we see His hand at work, performing miracles on our behalf.
Before we were spiritually reborn, we were completely ignorant of many things. Of course, we never admitted our ignorance because we were unaware that we were ignorant! That’s how blind we were in our fallen state.
In fact, some of us might have fallen for the “big bang” lie. That is one science concept that I could never fully grasp.
I simply could not understand how a cosmic explosion could meticulously create the heavens and the Earth without a divine guiding hand. That never made sense to me because most explosions destroy rather than create. So if there was not a divine Creator orchestrating a big explosion, how could the wonders of nature and the complexities of our bodies have miraculously formed?
I love the wisdom found in Proverbs and I could write all day about them. But if I did that, you might not return next week; therefore, let’s look at one more verse, Proverbs 20:22.
“Don't say, ‘I will get even for this wrong.’ Wait for the Lord to handle the matter” (Proverbs 20:22, NLT). In other words, don’t worry about paying someone back for his or her wickedness. Besides, worrying causes wrinkles!
God is more than capable of handling wicked culprits who delight in mistreating, gossiping, or hating His children. Instead of worrying about our enemies, we should spend our time productively walking with integrity. Time is too short to waste!
Our God, who created everything, is more than capable of handling all wrongdoers. In His time, which will be the right time, the Creator can easily create a big hole to swallow up the wicked.
Let’s review the wisdom in those five short verses (Proverbs 20:1, 7, 12, 13, 22). We learned that we should walk with integrity, work with diligence, plan and save for our future, recognize God as the giver of good things, and let God handle our enemies. When we do these things, we will be blessed. Not only will we be blessed, but our children will be blessed too.
How can we understand the road we travel? It is the Lord who directs our steps.
Proverbs 20:24 (NLT)
Three Key Concepts:
1. When we diligently work and save, we will reap a harvest.
2. Our children are blessed when we walk with integrity.
3. Every good thing comes from God.
