He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it, But he who hates being a guarantor is secure. Proverbs 11:15
There are at least six different times when Proverbs warns us against being either an guarantor or against surety. Here we are warned against being a guarantor for a stranger. The warning we are given by Solomon (and by the Lord) is that we will surely suffer harm for such an action. When you guarantee another's debt - you are responsible for their action or their inaction. If they pay their debt on time, you will have no problem. If they do not - then you have to pay their debt. The reality though is that a person who has to ask for a guarantor is usually someone that a bank or a business considers a higher risk. We should learn from their concern that we too, should be concerned as well. This is why so many who become a guarantor regret it dearly. The high risk the bank is unwilling to take - becomes the risk of the guarantor. It is no shock to learn then that more often than not - the guarantor pays the money in the end. But what do you say to someone who comes to you asking for surety - or for you to be their guarantor. First, you graciously decline citing your desire to be their friend longer than the terms on the loan you are being asked to sign. When you become a guarantor your relationship with that person changes. It changes either for the length of the loan or, in the case of those who default on the loan, possibly forever. Your friend may not like hearing this at first - but they will appreciate that you view a friendship as more important than a loan. Second, you graciously decline citing Scripture. You explain that your refusal to become a guarantor is being done because you want to obey God. In this case their frustration will be with God more than you. Third, you can encourage them lovingly that desiring something they cannot afford is eventually going to be harmful to them. Those who take this path consistently pay a much higher price in the years to come. It is better to control our desires, and keep them within the means that God has given to us. We may not get whatever we want when we want it - but - honestly, has that ever worked out well for anyone? The Scriptures counsel us to be those who "hate" being a guarantor. The reason God tells us this is not to make us stingey. He says it for our protection, for the protection of the friend or family member who asks, and for the protection of relationships we want to keep far into the future - so we can be of long-term encouragement and blessing to those we love.
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It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.
Proverbs 10:22 There is a wrong view of wealth that says that God does not bless men with wealth - therefore if anyone has it - they have it due to sin. This is contrary to what we see written in the Scriptures. God does make men wealthy. He blesses some men with the ability to accumulate and make a great deal of wealth. Eccleiastes 5:18-19 says the following, "Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God." God grants people the ability to receive great wealth from His hand - and also grants to them the ability to enjoy it. This is truly a wonderful gift. It is also what our proverb today is telling us from the Lord. It IS the blessing of Jehovah that makes a man rich, and when God grants this - there is also no sorrow with it. There is often great sorrow that attends the rich men of this world - who have put their hope in these riches - rather than in the Lord. These men do not enjoy their riches - because that is all that they are living for. Paul warned young Timothy to beward of living for riches - because when a man loves money - he pierces himself with MANY sorrows. Not only this, but when a man sets his heart on wealth - it is as if wealth takes up wings and flys toward the heavens. This is the malady that strikes those who think if they could just get a little more they would be happy. You see the folly of this when you see men who are billionaires who are not satisfied with their wealth - but struggle and strive to become even richer. Their lives are consumed by their wealth - and even as the Scriptures tell us - their sleep flies away from them because they cannot stop thinking about their money and how they will continue to protect it. God does bless some with wealth. But we know those when we se that there is no sorrow that comes with it. They are happy - and do not allow wealth or riches to consume their thinking. They even use their wealth to bless God and to expand the work of the kingdom here on earth. Therefore they are among the blessed whom God has given riches - and the ability to enjoy them and use them without harm to themselves. If you are one of these people - fall on your knees and thank God - for their numbers are few indeed. "I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries. Proverbs 8:20-21
What is the way to wealth in this world? Today many would see that wealth and earthly riches are attainable by any means possible. People do very ungodly things in order to get rich. Yet from what we see here in today's proverb, wisdom says that she wants to give wealth to those who walk in righteousness and justice. So which way is it? The world's way or wisdom's way? First of all we read in this passage that wisdom walks in a righteous path. The words used here indicate that wisdom always walks this way. This is the very lifestyle of wisdom - to embrace and to walk in righteousness. Therefore we can rightly assume that those who receive the wealth that wisdom endows also walk in this way. Second, we read that wisdom also walks in the middle of the path of justice. The idea here is not that wisdom is trying to walk in the middle - meaning that wisdom sees the path of justice as a tightrope - and that walking wise is a difficult path to follow because it involves walking with a balance. The idea is that there is the road of justice - and wisdom drives right down the middle of it. Wisdom does not hug to one side or the other of the road, trying to live as close to the edge as possible. Instead, wisdom drives right down the middle - choosing the right way every time. Wisdom walks in this way so that she can offer to men true wealth. When wisdom says this to us, we need to see that she says that she wants to endow those who love her with wealth. The picture painted though is not that our eyes are on the wealth. Our eyes are fixed on wisdom. It is not money we love - it is wisdom. The wealth that she gives us is simply an offshoot of living for her. This is emphasized even further by the next statement made here - "that I may fill their treasuries." For those fixated on wealth and money - they see money as the goal. For those whose hearts are right - they see that wisdom herself is filling their treasuries. The wealth is wisdom and her ways - wisdom and her paths - wisdom and the ability to walk and choose rightly and justly. Will wisdom gives us money? There are times when this is true - when making a wise choice will help us immediately in the bottom line of our finances. But there are other times when the right and just choice will negatively affect our immediate bottom line. No matter which one it is - the man who truly walks in wisdom and seeks her and her ways is not fixated on his bank account. He longs for wisdom herself. He desires for the wisdom of God to fill the treasuries of his heart and mind all his days. This is the promise of wisdom - not a greed-motivated desire for a fat wallet, but rather a love-motivated desire for the fullness of the mind of Christ as we make every decision of life. Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great treasure and turmoil with it. Proverbs 15:16
More is better. That is the attitude of the world toward money. But the Scriptures tell us a different story. We learn from Proverbs that it is a far better investment to have the fear of the Lord than it is to have treasure without it. What is interesting to me as I read this particular Proverb today is that the guy who wrote it was arguably the richest man to ever walk the earth. We read that a little with the fear of the Lord is a good thing. The fear of God is a proper reverence for God. It is not a cowering fear that trembles at the thought that God might strike at any moment. It is a respect and reverence that puts one in their proper place - and in so doing this encourages in them a proper response to God. This respect for God will bless in far more ways than money. Since there is a respect for God Himself, there will also be a respect for His Word. This respect for the Bible leads us to read it and apply it. That in turn will bring blessings untold over time. The fear of God also leads one to have a great distaste of displeasing the Lord or disobeying Him. Therefore the principles that one reads in the Word will be followed with great caution. The other option is to get wealth no matter what is at risk. We read there is "turmoil" that comes with this great treasure. Turmoil here means to have confusion, panic, tumult, and distrubance. There are those who have a tremendous amount of money - yet with their riches they also have incredible trouble as well. Their family is destroyed - relationships are strained - and since what they truly value is money - they have few real friends. Instead they have sycophants who hang around them because they think they will be receiving something from them at some point in the future. Solomon had a heart for God at the beginning of his reign in Jerusalem. He had wisdom and turned to seek the Lord. His heart was geared toward pleasing God - and thus it could be said that he feared the Lord. But Solomon loved many women - way too many women. They turned his heart as they had him worship their false gods. Solomon may have been wealthy and may have had anything his heart desired financially, but he was a man filled with turmoil as he grew older. His desires ran rampant in his heart - and he became a fool who sought only after his own pleasure. In the end, his kingdom became more and more difficult to maintain - and his son - who followed his ways wound up losing almost all of it. If you interviewed Solomon at the end of his days, he would have been a man filled with regret - and also filled with a jaded view of things. That is exactly what we see in the book of Ecclesiastes. We watch Solomon looking over everything he had and saying that it all was vanity and like striving after wind. What we learn from his life is exactly what he wrote in this proverb. It is better to have just a little while fearing God - than having it all and living in a constant turmoil over it. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it," When you have it with you. Proverbs 3:27-28
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. These are the words that God has left us to help us define how we are to interact with our neighbors. To help us further there are also proverbs that instruct us how we are to handle specific situations involving our neighbors. These two verses in Proverbs chapter three are some of those verses that give us that instruction. This proverb has to do with how we treat our neighbor when we owe him money - in short - this is about how we pay our debts. The phrase "from those to whom it is due" means to those who are its rightful owners. The word "those" is the Hebrew word "baal" which means a master or an owner. Some want to make this passage about taking care of the poor - and while there are many verses that instruct us to do just that - this is not one of them. It is about withholding good from the owner who is present. If this were not about repayment of debts - we might have an interesting time defining the "one to whom it is due." When we legitimately owe someone money - we need to repay it. Since we have incurred the debt - they deserve to receive from us what we owe them. Most debts in our world are negotiated debts - so there is a payment that is due each month or week. It is our responsibility to give them the money on time. If our financial obligation is due - it is sinful for us to ask our creditor to wait till tomorrow to be paid. This is especially true if we have the money with us. This is what is means when we read that we have it is our power to do good toward them. The good is to be faithful to pay our debt in an acceptable amount of time. We are told in verse 28 that it is a sinful thing to tell our neighbor that we will pay them tomorrow when we have the money with us today. Thus to wait out a creditor because we have something to gain - or because we may not want to part with our money today - is sin. If we have the money with us - we need to pay it to the person we owe immediately. The way we pay our bills is a testimony to our faith in the Lord. If we are constantly late with our bills and are not wise with our money - it is a very poor testimony to the Lord. To pay our debts wisely and regularly lets the world around us know that we manage our money well. The truth is that it is not "our money" anyway. It is money that God has entrusted us with for the sake of using it for His glory. When we handle our financies this way - we do Him honor and remind those around us that Christians are trustworthy, faithful people. When we do not - great shame is brought to God's name. May God always grant us to be the people who are the former - and who honey and magnify God with how we handle His money and pay our debts. Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for foreigners, hold him in pledge. Proverbs 20:16
It is probably a little shocking to us in the West how often the Word of God talks about the issue of surety. We are not used to such strong words regarding debt and regarding guaranteeing the debt of others. But then again this shouldn't be too shocking because as a nation we are a debt loving people. We have over 14 trillion dollars in government debt and are one of the worst debtor nations in the world. The people of the United States are not much better having become one of the richest nations in the world - but deceptively - on the basis of debt rather than real wealth. It might be wise for us to learn from the Scriptures on this matter because God warns in Isaiah about those who become rich with loans. This kind of wealth is not wealth at all. First of all you don't own anything when you "own" it with debt - the bank owns it. If you want to test this theory try missing payments on your "so-called" wealth - and find out how quickly the bank will eventually come and prove who owns what. Second, when you become wealthy with debt - you are paying much more for what you are buying than what it is worth. I remember when my family went to sign for our house loan. I was horrified when I saw that I was paying close to triple what the house actually cost to buy it with a loan. That was an eye-opening experience for me. The problem with going surety for someone else is that you are in effect giving a guarantee that you will pay their debt if they do not. To counter this our society has something called collateral, which is something of value that is put up to secure the debt. When you have collateral you don't have surety - because if the person defaults on their debt, you can take the collateral to pay for what they do not pay. Good collateral is when you have something close to equal in value to what is borrowed. Here in this proverb though, we have a situation where someone does not have sufficient collateral for their loan - and therefore all they have is their garment. God's Word forbids taking a man's "cloak" overnight because for the poor this was all they wrapped themselves in to protect from the cold. Yet what we see here is that we are told that when a man becomes surety for a stranger - to even take his garment - and when he does this for a foreigner - to hold him in pledge for what he has foolishly guaranteed. The teaching here is that there has to be a price for foolishness - and especially foolishness with money. But there is a more sinister possibility here that we need to examine. Several commentators see this word "stranger" as a sign that this loan was also given because of an involvement with an alluring woman. If you remember elsewhere in the book of Proverbs, the prostitute is often called a "strange woman." There is a warning then here given especially to men who deal with money. That warning is not to be pulled into giving money because we are taken by a woman's alluring appeal. We all know of the scenes where a woman uses her sexual appeal to get what she wants. This statement is possibly given to warn men to steel their hearts when an attractive woman comes for an appeal. We are to loan money on the basis of wisdom - not in response to our glands and egos. God gives to each of us a provision - and that provision is meant to be used according to the wisdom that He has given in His Word. We MUST be careful to follow biblical financial principles. When we vary from them we will face loss and face difficult times because we did not listen to His wisdom or follow it. We need to realize how often the book of Proverbs offers to us God's take on financial matters - and follow His wisdom to the place of His blessing and protection. If we do not, we may lose our shirt - or at least our garment. One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed. Proverbs 19:17
How can anyone ever lend money to God? That sounds impossible since the Lord owns the cattle on the thousand hills and all the wealth that anyone could ever imagine. Yet the Scriptures make it clear here that when we are gracious to the poor we are leading to Jehovah. Let's take a closer look at this - and at the blessing that comes from being gracious and kind to those who are poor. When we give to the poor we are being very wise. We are making an investment that will bless us in the end. Lending to anyone is a risky endeavor because lending wisely is based on their ability to repay us. Yet when we are gracious to the poor by giving to them, we are told that we are giving a loan to God. His ability to repay is infinite - therefore this is an investment that will pay wonderful dividends. If there were ever a sure bet when it comes to lending policy - this is it. Being gracious to the poor means showing them mercy. The idea behind this word is that we are showing a kind act to someone in need. Since this refers to the poor, the idea of gracious giving is implied. We read in 1 John that part of the love of God in us is giving to someone who has a need instead of just wishing them well and leaving them to hope for the best. The promise here is very clear. When we are gracious in lending and giving to the poor, we will be repaid from the Lord Himself. The good deed of giving to the poor is noticed by the Lord. We are told that the man who is gracious to the poor will be happy (Prov 14:21). The one generous to the poor by giving him some of his food, God promises will be blessed (Prov 22:9). We are also told that the one who gives to the poor will never want (Prov 28:27). These are all very clear promises of God that we should take seriously when we face situations where we can either show mercy upon the poor - or close our hearts to them. The rich man in the gospels would warn us that shutting our hearts to the poor like Lazarus who sat at his gate is an act that will cost us dearly in the end. May God give us the wisdom to act on opportunities to provide for the poor. The benefits of such kindness are beyond our ability to comprehend. May we abound with such kindness and secure great blessing! Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, When he has no sense? Proverbs 17:16
Often fools pay a great deal of money to attain wisdom. They go to prestigious schools and seek to earn degrees that supposedly garner them respect in the eyes of others in the world. They will pay ridiculous amounts of money to travel near and far to talk to those who will help them know the meaning of life and the wisdom of the sages down through the years. But this proverb reveals the real problem in its second part. Though the fool were to spend a billion forturnes to attain and buy wisdom, it is not available to him. He will not grasp wisdom because he has no sense. The word used for sense here is the Hebrew word, "leb" which means heart. This is not speaking of his physical heart - even though it is the word used of the physical heart at times. The Hebrews believed that the heart referred to the inner man, the functioning of the mind and will - it is in effect the spirit or very center of the man. When a man did not have heart, as is referred to here, he was seen as being a man who was dead on the inside. He had no spiritual life - and no real heart for God or the things of God. Here is why the man first is a fool - and second, couldn't get wisdom if he had all the money in the world. He is dead spiritually - and he is unresponsive to God because of it. Since the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God - this man has a broken part that unless it is repaired (or in the spiritual sense - reborn) - he will never know wisdom. Only the man who is alive spiritually will truly know wisdom. There are many who can gather wise facts and wise sayings until they sound and even seem wise - yet, there is one glaring problem. They do not know God, and if you do not know God and honor Him, you remain a fool no matter how much information you can spout off or how many wise sayings you can repeat. No heart? No acknowledgement of God? No hunger for Him and for His Word? Then you will have no wisdom. And this is true no matter how much money you can lay out wanting it. Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, But the one who gathers by labor increases it. Proverbs 13:11
At times it amazes me how much can be found on business and finances within the book of Proverbs. There is enough counsel on business decisions and how we handle money to guide us throughout our entire lifetimes. That is why admonitions like the one today are such a blessing to us if we will heed what is said to us by them. Today's proverb counsels us as to the proper way to obtain wealth. There are many in our day (and actually at any time in history) who are looking for a "get-rich-quick scheme." They want to obtain wealth any way that they can - and do not realize that to sell our soul or our integrity for any amount of wealth is far too high a price to pay to become rich. That is the warning that is given to us today in Proverbs. When we obtain wealth by fraud - we are going to face problems and difficulties in maintaining that wealth. The word fraud here is the Hebrew word "hebel" and it refers to soemthing that is vain and empty. It refers to a person's character when it is empty of character - or when the character is fleeting and easily changed. It also has the idea of being evil as well. When we seek wealth but do so by being ungodly - we are on the wrong track. The warning here is that when we get wealth by this kind of fraud, it will dwindle. It will dwindle first of all because God's blessing will not be upon it. God is sovereign over the affairs of mankind, and when we go outside what He says and commands, His blessing will be absent from our lives. There may be wealth to be had on the front end of godless business practices - but the latter end of these men will see a dwindling of their wealth. What is interesting is how their wealth may dwindle. One way it dwindles is by others having the same ungodly, fraudulent business practices that eventually takes their money. The saying, what comes around goes around is the rule here. The Bible puts it this way, if we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind. Act ungodly in securing your own riches - someone may use the same ungodly tactics on you later in life. The second way that wealth may dwindle later in life is through children that have no sense at all when it comes to finances. Solomon wrote these words about this dwindling of our wealth and riches. "Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19, NASB) Some men spend a lifetime gathering wealth by fraud - only to have a son or daughter live foolishly and destroy a fortune left to them. This is because that child has watched a corrupt father gather millions - and in the process the true riches of that child's character are ruined. They not only inherit the riches - but also the fatal flaws in their father's actions. The third way that these riches dwindle is by the man's ability to enjoy them later in life. The older we get, the less we can enjoy the things of this world. Our taste buds go - our health goes - and our agility and strength go as well. So, whether God's judgment and discipline come immediately - or just through the course of life itself - wealth obtained wrongly will dwindle in the end. And this says nothing of eternity - where fraudulent wealth will disappear altogether as a man loses everything. Consider the rich farmer who tore down his old barns to build new ones - thinking that his life indeed only consisted of his possessions. He was not rich toward God - and faced the loss of everything - most importantly his very soul as he burned in hell for all eternity for his focus on the wrong kind of wealth. The promise of this proverb is that if we gather wealth by labor - we will increase. That is an aspect of his proverb that we need to see clearly. The translation says that we increase "it" - referring to our wealth. But the it is not actually in the text. The phrase says that when we gather wealth by labor - we increase - not just our wealth - but our entire being. God grows us as we learn to work hard and labor at what pleases and honors Him. Another aspect of this proverb is that we are to gather wealth gradually - working for it at every turn. We are warned elsewhere in Proverbs that an inheritance gained quickly - will most likely be wasted. The prodigal son got his inheritance quickly from his father - but he wasted it on immoral living and wound up eating with the pigs in a foreign land. There is something to be said to having wealth come slowly by surely by labor and by effort. There is a promised increase - a blessing that comes as we work hard and appreciate what blessing God has given to us. Beware of gaining wealth the wrong way - fraudulently. It will not give us the true riches that God desires for us to have. These come by hard work and effort. This kind of wealth will bring us great blessing in the end. May God help us to see this kind of wealth - and have a heart to covet it rather than wealth that will harm us instead. A rich man's wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination. Proverbs 18:11
There is something about wealth and riches that make men think that they are insulated from things normal men have to endure. They often use their money to avoid the troubles of the average man. Some pay bribes to officials so that they and their family do not have to be arrested or pay for tickets that have been given to them. But this is only deception. God will bring down the high wall and the fortress in which they put their trust. There was such a man in the New Testament. In Luke chapter 12 we read about a rich man whose land was very productive. When a bumper crop came in, he wondered to himself what he should do with it. His decision was one that consisted of trusting in riches for his future. He decided to tear down his existing barns and build bigger ones to store all his food for himself. He truly saw his wealth as a strong city and a high wall behind which he could be safe. His imagination told him that when he gathered up all his wealth he would be protected and kept from the normal problems and indignities men usually faced. It was a nice illusion while it lasted. Problem was for him that it only lasted less than one hour. God came to this safe and secure rich man and demanded of his his soul that very hour. God came to him and revealed to him the foolishness of his choices. He might have imagined that his money was his real future - but he forgot the one enemy money cannot buy off in the end. Death was coming to him - his soul was required of him - and there was absolutely nothing that his accumulated wealth could do for him in that moment. He did not choose to be "rich toward God," and in the end it cost him everything. Safety in wealth is just a bad illusion. The only safe place is in the center of God's will. We may think that our savings will protect us - but the only secure place to store up treasure is in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and thieves cannot break in and steal. You may think that your riches provide safety for you - but that is only your foolish imagination. It is only the lie of the devil and the siren song of the world that would lure you in to destroy you on the rocks of death and the grave. The only safe place is under the blood of Jesus. The only true wealth is the wealth that is stored up through our good works done in the name of Jesus Christ for the glory of God. All other wealth and safety are the epitome of illusory lies. They will disappear before your eyes at death just as the promising mirage of an oasis disappears before the dreaming eyes of the man who is dying of thirst in the desert. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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