Will they not go astray who devise evil? But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good. Proverbs 14:22

Today's proverb has to do with the payoff for both evil and good. There is a pay day for living in a way that is morally wrong. God uses quite an interesting picture of the one who is planning and devising evil. The word used here is "haras" which means to plow or to till the soil. The kind of plowing that is being done is plowing and planting evil. The evil is both moral and ethical in its reach. The fool spends his time plowing this way - and planting a very morally perverse crop into the ground of his life. The proverb tells us that the ones who live this way - will err. They will wander about and go astray. They will be intoxicated with their sin and as a result wander off not really realizing the danger of their actions. In the end they go the wrong way and wander into a moral wasteland.

Unfortunately I've watched this kind of moral wandering many times. They begin to plow the fields of their life with questionable morals and ethics. As they do this they speak of their freedom to do what they want - and usually disparage the Word of God for its straight-laced moral views. But in the end they wind up wanding off into things they did not intend to do. They only realize this when they've gone much father than they expected - or when something devastating happens to them because of their moral blindness. It is a sad thing to watch - because as those counselled by Scripture, we see where they are going. That is why this is voiced to us in a rhetorical way. The rhetorical question is that they are going to wander and err who plan and plow evil in their lifestyle.

To counter this erring way, we are also given a strong statement about what awaits those who plow what is good in their lives. This good (Hebrew word "tobah") is something that is well-pleasing, fruitful, proper, and morally correct. Of course all these things are referring to how God's Word affirms the moral direction that they are taking. What is promised to those plowing in this way is mercy and truth. Let's take a closer look at these two words.

Kindness is the Hebrew word "chesed." That word means to receive mercy and lovingkindness. The word is used of God's love constantly in the Old Testament. It is the closest kin to the Greek word agape in the New Testatment. It refers to God's covenant love with His people. When we choose to plow in a way that is morally in agreement with God's Word, God loves us - and will shower us with His grace, mercy, faithfulness, and goodness. That is what awaits right moral choices. The second word is "truth" which is the Hebrew word "emet." It refers to faithfulness - and is often combined with ideas like God's righteousness and peace. When we plow our lives with godliness and moral rectitiude, there will be a harvest of peace and righteousness that will come to us. Rather than the wandering destructive ways that come to those who plow evil, there is a blessing that showers on those who seek a crop of good things. That blessing is a righteous life - a peaceful existance where we know where we are going. There will be the smile of God and the light of His presence upon this person's path. He sows to godliness and reaps an abundance of joy, light, and life as a result.

When I consider this proverb I cannot but come away from it without remembering the promise of God that we will reap what we sow. To the one who is plowing and sowing evil this comes as a warning that his ways are not good. He will eventually be led to wander and even be destroyed by his ungodly moral choices. To the one plowing and sowing good there is the confident expectation that a good crop will grow - yielding 30, 60, and 100 fold fruit to the glory of God - and to his own blessing and welfare. So the question to ask is simply this, "How are you plowing the fields of your life and future?" 

He who despises his neighbor sins, But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.  Proverbs 14:21

We continue to be counselled here on our attitude and actions toward the poor.  God is truly concerned that we are gracious to the poor, for He Himself was gracious to us when we were poorer than any level of poverty could ever reach.  He granted us His very riches in Christ through the gospel - therefore we too should respond with grace and with mercy to those who have little or nothing around us.

This proverb speaks of those who "despise" their neighbor.  The one who despises his neighbor looks at his poverty and hates it.  He sees no need for mercy or for kindness.  He will most likely point out all the reasons why this one is in poverty - and say that is the reason why he should not do anything for the poor.  While it is true that we need to give to the poor in a way that does not enable them to continue in sin, there is a need for them to receive genuine love and mercy from those who can help them. 

Some despise their poor neighbor because their poverty calls for generosity - and that is hard to have when one is in bondage to a worldview where they are all that matters.  They want much for themselves and therefore to give to another is an unwanted trouble.  Therefore they despise the poor - and refuse to be gracious and give to their neighbor in need.  We are told that such an attitude is sinful.  It misses the mark that God has made for us to hit. 

It is truly important to see the nature and the actions of God to see why this is such a sinful, wicked attitude.  When we refuse to give, we are very much unlike God.  He gives to the poor and to the unfortunate.  As was said at the beginning of this post, God gave His Son for the poorest of all creatures - sinful man.  That should help us understand His basic nature - that He is gracious and giving.  We, therefore, should be gracious and giving as well.  To be and to do anything else is just sinful.

He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.   Proverbs 13:24

Child discipline is an issue today that is quickly being taken over by worldly psychologists and child-advocates who think that spanking a child or administering any kind of coporal punishment is child abuse.  Yet from what we see in Proverbs today, child abuse should be defined a little differently.  It should be defined as those who refuse to apply the rod of discipline to their children in a loving way so as to train them to be unselfish.

The rod is mentioned here - and is it mentioned because the parent is supposed to apply the rod to the child's rear-end in a controlled way for the purpose of training that child properly.  This is to be done without a fit of anger or rage - for disciplining under that kind of spirit will often lead to over-disciplining a child - or hitting them out of anger - rather than out of a desire to train and teach.  The wise man and woman discipline their child - because to refrain from discipline is to hate your child.  These are strong words - and need to be examined.

When we refuse to discipline a child - we are leaving them to the dictates of their sinful nature.  Contrary to the world-view of modern psychology, the Bible does not teach that man is basically good.  The Bible teaches that we are evil because of man's fall into sin.  Because of that event - and the effect it had on all mankind - we are basically selfish and self-centered.  Left on our own, we will become little monsters who demand our own way.  There is also another problem with the sinful nature and the way it works in our hearts.  The natural man does not submit himself to rules or authority very well.  A child will learn to say, "No" early in life, and needs to be trained to submit to authority and to rules.  Our sinfulness has us react to rules by wanting to buck them and do our own thing.  This needs to be an area of child training.  We need to teach our children to obey - and to submit to the authority that is over them.  Without this they will not function well in society.  When a child learns to be obedient, learns to be respectful, learns to work hard and be selfless in his attitude and actions it is a blessing to all those around him.  Consider what an entire society would look like with this kind of parenting? 

The Bible says that we need to discipline our children "diligently."  I will be honest with you - that this is difficult to do.  At times I would only discipline my children when they annoyed me enough to merit my all-important time and effort.  Hope you got the sarcasm in that statement.  Disciplining your children diligently requires a full commitment to seeing character and godliness developed in them.  You cannot just discipline them when you get mad because they are making your life difficult.  Discipline requires a full commitment of your life. 

This may seem like a lot, but let me give another testimony about this kind of child-rearing.  We have 6 children - 2 guys and 4 girls.  We are not model parents by any stretch of the word.  God has given us much grace as we stumbled and tried our best in this whole thing called parenting.  But one thing we have noticed is that when you give yourself to parenting after this model - you truly enjoy being with your children throughout your life.  We love being with our kids - and have the best time when we are.  They are a delight to our hearts.  I remember sharing with someone in a grocery store that we have 6 children.  Her response was whether we were still sane - and how much Prozac we needed to handle that many kids.  I smiled when she said this, but quickly stated that our kids were a delight - and that God gave us much grace and that is what helped us rear 6 kids.  That is the joy of living this way and rearing your children.  It is a blessing not only to your children as they mature - but it is a blessing to you and your wife as well.  The truth is that God is maturing not just your kids - He is maturing you as well.

Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred.  Proverbs 15:17

Some might think that this particular proverb is reason to preach vegetarianism - but the point of this proverb is the spirit in which you partake of your meals.  The dish of vegetables is actually seen as far less sumptuous fare than the fattened ox.  The difference here is what is going on while you are sharing your meal with others.  The vegetables, though not nearly as fancy as the fattened ox, are better because they are seasoned with love.  As a pastor I've had the joy of sharing meals with families.  Some of the most precious meals I've enjoyed in my 22 years as a pastor have been shared with some of the poorest of people.  The meals, though simple, were liberally seasoned with love and precious fellowship.  It was such a blessing to sit at such a table. 

The proverb compares the simple fare of a dish of vegetables with the food of a rich man's feast.  To have a fattened ox was about as special as it could get in Israel.  If you remember, the father of the prodigal son ordered that the fattened calf be served when his son came home.  It was a time of glorious celebration - and only the best was to be served.  But what this proverb tells us is that this fattened ox was seasoned with hatred.  Though a wonderful meal of food was served - it was served by someone who hated their guests.  There are those who practice a strange hospitality indeed.  They have guests - but only to get what they can from them.  They invite their guests to their high-class affairs to put them in their debt - so that at a later date they can collect what they are owed.  The worst of these parties are the ones that are done for people they absolutely despise - but they do it anyway because then everyone there will owe them favors.  This is a meal destined for relational indigestion.  The food may taste good - but it will only sour in their stomach as the problem of having to deal with their host comes to the surface.  There is no love - only hatred and a desire to be owed. 

So our writer warns us that in such situations it is better to go for the vegetables than for the most expensive item on the menu.  This is not for reasons of frugality.  It is a warning against false hospitality and the expectations that come with it.  It is a warning to partake of true fellowship - even if it is over celery and water.  In the end, fellowship with love will always trump hatred and fine dining.  One may fill your stomach - but the other fills your soul. 

Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions. Proverbs 10:12

Two things are compared in this verse in Proverbs.  They are hatred and love.  We see the emotions and choices of both of these things - and because Proverbs is all about wisdom, we also see what they eventually will yield.  If you need a proverb that will aid you in having good relationships, this would be a great one to learn.

First we see hatred.  The word used here is "sinah" and it means a strong feeling of hatred.  It is used of hatred that one human feels toward another.  This hatred can be so strong that it can lead to murder - but it doesn't always end this way.  Usually the manifestation is that it leads to dissension and unrest between two people - and often a broken relationship.  Hatred may begin as a feeling - but soon hatred will bring us to a choice.  The choice that is illustrated here is that of strife.  Where someone has hatred in their heart, strife and discord cannot be far behind.  We can choose to deal with our hatred in a biblical fashion - which is what the second half of this proverb relates to us.  But if we will not deal with our hatred biblically - then that hatred will result in strife.  We are told that hatred "stirs up" strife.  The concept here is that of arousing and awakening someone.  It refers to an agitating action.  Hatred is a motivator - and it wants to motivate someone and agitate them to where they start a fight.  This can be verbal - or as we have seen in worst case scenarios - even physical to the point of death.  That is why we must immediately respond to hate when it rises up within our hearts. 

We might find it interesting that God wants us to hate sin and hate evil.  These are things God does not want us to have decent relationships with in life.  We are to hate these things - and allow that hatred to stir us to stiving with sin and godlessness until we reject and refuse them in our lives.  But when hatred is felt toward "someone" we are walking in dangerous territory.

The second half of this proverb tells us that love covers all transgressions.  The words used here are very expressive.  The love that is mentioned here is the very love of a man for a woman or the love of God for His people.  This kind of love is selfless, self-giving love.  When we love like this - it covers all transgressions.  The word "cover" is the Hebrew word "kasah" and it means to clothe or conceal something.  This is not the "cover-up" that we refer to when speaking of illegal activity.  It is the covering and concealing that happens when one thing covers another.  This word was used to speak of what the water did to the Egyptians when God had the Red Sea cover them.  It is also used metaphorically in the Scripture of something that covers the shame of the guilty.  But in order to fully understand what is said here we need to combine all the words used.  Love covers all transgression.  Transgression speaks of rebellion against God and His Law.  It speaks of rebellion of one individual against another. 

Love chooses to cover over these times of rebellion.  When we look at this whole proverb we see that the usual response to transgression and rebellion is hatred and the strife that results from it.  But what God desires is for us to respond with love - so that relationships will be blessed - even when one party doesn't contribute or want peace.

The most awesome way we see this truth illustrated is by God Himself with sinful mankind.  We have chosen rebellion and disobedience - even hatred of the things of God.  Yet God in His love chooses not to judge us immediately.  His love was manifest fully in Christ.  He chose to love us - and God manifests His love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  This is love in its most glorious form.  That love covers all transgressions - and makes it possible for grace to bring salvation to men.  As we have reaped the glorious benefits of salvation from God's grace, may we also reap the blessings of donning His character in our response to slights of others.  This is the way to redeem a relationship rather than let it take the fallen,  natural course that is usually followed.  What a wisdom is ours when we see a whole way of relating to one another in the cross.  May God use it to bless you in your relationships in the weeks and months to come.

He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good. Proverbs 19:8

How does the Bible teach us to love ourselves?  Here is an interesting question because there are some who think that before we can ever love someone else, we have to love ourselves.  Personally, I find that kind of teaching to be contrary to sound wisdom.  The reason I feel this way is because those who are taught such things spend all their time going deeper inward to determine if they love themselves enough.  The problem with this kind of psycho-babble is that happiness comes when we are no longer consumed with ourselves and learn to give our lives for others and for the glory of God.  A person who constantly goes inward to determine if they love themselves properly will have precious little time to love others.  It is usually a downward spiral that can lead to a person being consumed by a desire for their own happiness.  Jesus said that if we love our lives we will lose them - but if we lose our lives for Him and for His kingdom's sake, we will gain them for all eternity.  But this passage in Proverbs genuinely speaks of loving our own soul.  So what exactly is God teaching us here?

The translation here reads, "He who gets wisdom . . . " yet the actual word translated wisdom is the Hebrew word, "leb" which refers to the heart.  What Solomon was seeking to say is that the one who gets a heart - the right kind of heart - loves his own soul.  Here is where we need to grasp what the Bible says about our hearts.  We learn from the whole counsel of Scripture some very interesting things about the human heart. 

First, we learn that our hearts are messed up due to the fall of man into sin.  Jeremiah tells us that the heart is wicked and desperately evil, and is impossible to understand with our own wisdom.  (Jeremiah 17:9)  To plumb the depths of our hearts - without grasping the wickedness of sinful man - will get you no where.  That is why secular psychology will yield very little in dealing with the true human condition.  None of the major psychological constructs admits that man is a sinner - and that the real problem with humanity is a sin problem - a rebellion against God.  The next thing we learn is that God Almighty can understand the heart - and has done what is necessary to change it and transform it.  The change for the heart is available by faith in Jesus Christ.  God takes out of us our heart of stone, that does not respond to God's Word or commandments.  In its place God miraculously puts a heart of flesh that has the very commandments of God written upon it.  Thus we are regenerated in Christ with a new heart and a desire to do what He commands.  The other lesson that God teaches us in His Word is that once we are saved, our hearts and minds need to be renewed by the Word and the work of His Spirit.  While we are here on earth, we will face temptation and a constant battle with the three enemies of our soul, the world-system, the flesh, and the devil.  Because of the way that these three things want to influence our minds toward sin, it is imperative that we renew our minds with the truth - which is God's Word.  Actually, this is the way we "get heart."

We "get heart" when we begin to understand God's wisdom and God's ways.  We no longer try in our own strength to deal with the myriad of temptations and trials that come to our hearts.  We know that such an endeavor is doomed to be fruitless.  Instead, we embrace what God has done in Jesus Christ.  We embrace godly wisdom and understanding.  As we do this we are actively loving our own soul!  Remember that Jesus said that if we want to save our "fleshly" lives in this world - we will lose them.  But the one who chooses to lose his soul - who dies to self - and who embraces a regenerated heart - that man loves himself in the end.  He embraces an understanding of life that has conversion and regeneration at its core.  As he does this - he finds good!  He learns to die to himself - and die to the desires of the flesh.  He learns that when his heart is drawn by temptation to a worldly point of view that he needs to reject it.  He chooses instead to "not love the world or the things of the world."  He goes to the Word of God to renew his mind so that he proves that the will of God is good, acceptable, and perfect.  He faces the lies and deceit of the devil and learns to expose them for what they are.  He chooses instead a life instructed by the Scriptures.  He spends time in the Word so that he is walking with "understanding" at all times. 

The two words "keeps understanding" are very beneficial to know here.  He "keeps" understanding points to the fact that he watches over it - guards it - and is constantly on the lookout for anything that would detract from God's ways and will in his life.  He keeps "understanding" points to the fact that he desires a discernment from God on all things.  The word "understanding" is the Hebrew "tebunah" which means to discern or understand how things differ.  He looks at every choice wanting to discern the difference between his flesh and the Spirit of God.  He wants to discern the difference between the kingdoms of this world vs. the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ.  He longs to discern the difference between his own desires and those given by the Lord.  He yearns to grasp the difference between sin and righteousness - between glorifying self and glorifying God. 

This is the way to love yourself.  You love your own soul by protecting and guarding it from the tyranny of self.  You choose instead to embrace God's wisdom in the heart.  You decide that you will guard and protect yourself from anything that turns you even slightly from a life lived for the glory of God - from a life lived for the kingdom of God - and a life lived by the Spirit of God as He teaches and leads you by the Word of God.  Want to love yourself?  That is the way to do it!