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He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty. Proverbs 28:19
Do something worthwhile. Do something that will provide for you and for your family. Work hard at it and work consistently at it. When you do this you will be blessed with plenty for your family. You may not become rich or wealthy in the world's eyes - but you will have provided well for your family. Today's proverb helps us to understand that hard work will be rewarded with plenty of provision. Work ethic is something that is not natural to fallen mankind. It is something that needs to be instilled in children from a young age - and then encouraged as they grow older. Finally, a strong work ethic needs to be lauded in the public eye so that the entire society may be blessed. If we do not do this - the second half of this proverb will begin to infect an individual, a family, and from there, an entire society. God does not want us to follow what He calls, "empty pursuits." The King James Version refers to this as "vanities." What does it mean to follow an empty pursuit. At its core, an empty pursuit describes itself. It is something we do - or something we pursue - that in the end leaves us empty. It is something that is not productive. We give time and effort to it - but in the end it gives nothing back. The end affect of this kind of "empty pursuit" is that we wind up with plenty of poverty. These kind of pursuits take from us, but give nothing back when we've finished them. And from the term used here - we have to "pursue" them. We chase after them - and they have at least the promise of something valuable. The truth though is that when we catch them - we are left with a harvest of air. They give us nothing. I'm about to sound like a really old man to many who read this - so I wanted to offer a fair warning. The video game industry is one that has been slowly planting a crop in our society, that when fully harvested, will provide nothing. I am blown away when I talk with high school and college students who spend hours and at times entire days playing these games. They immerse themselves in these things and when they come up for air - they have nothing except a bountiful basket of poverty to show for it. One of the most dangerous parts of this trend is that it also manifests itself in addictive behavior in other ways. We have an entire generation (and if we are honest with ourselves, at least two now) who are bound up in activities that produce nothing. Between the video games, the time spent on facebook and twitter, as well as the growing trend to get on sites like Netflix and others that offer entire seasons of television shows (which are watched almost all day long) we are becoming a society that is following massive numbers of empty pursuits. What that is yielding is an ever growing populace that shuns hard work - and is completely entertainment-crazed. It is probably an appeal that may fall on deaf ears, but we need to shut down our games, get off the internet, and give ourselves to something called "hard work." If you have not noticed, our nation is coming apart at the seams. We see a pervasive laziness and lack of work ethic that will only bring us plenty of poverty in the end. Our educational institutions are dumbing down their programs and requiring less of their students. If you think I am eggagerating, look at how we rank in the world in things like science, math, and overall productivity. I am not against recreation and times of play - but our play used to be getting out and doing something with others. Now it is dominated by sedentary games that focus on fantasy, violence, or seeing our avatar get with it at some video activity. May God grant a revival - not just of religious activity - but one that also yields a return to a godly work ethic. If we don't do this, we will see the poverty a-plenty that God predicts. If we do return to the blessing of hard work, we will see a blessing that will last far beyond our own lives. It will bless many generations. Here's to hard work!
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He who walks blamelessly will be delivered, but he who is crooked will fall all at once. Proverbs 28:18
There are some who try to walk simultaneously on two divergent paths. They will find that their hypocrisy and duplicity will betray them in the end. Like a man standing on both sides of a draw bridge that is opening, they will find that sooner or later they will either have to pick a side - or face falling into the water all at once. That is what our proverb is about today. The crooked man is one who is trying to live two ways at one time. The Hebrew word for crooked means to walk twisted in two ways. The idea behind the word is that the two paths are opposite of each other. There is no way that this man can continue in this indefinitely. The paths themselves are mutually exclusive and will end badly. That end is given to us as a warning. He will "fall all at once." This is end for those who try to walk in hypocrisy - they will not slip up a litle - they will fall all at once. The best example of this is in the New Testament. The person who did it - Judas Iscariot. Judas tried to live in two completely different worlds. We learn that he followed Jesus - and was even one who saw the power of God in Christ up close and personal. Yet he also wanted to be in power - and he loved money. He would steal from their money box as the treasurer - and also was angry when the woman with the valuable vial of oil poured it on Jesus rather than sold it for a small fortune. He wanted money - evident by the fact that in the end he sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. But that money would not assuage his guilty conscience. Judas was an example of a man who fell "all at once." Unable to handle the guilt for betraying Jesus to crucifixion, he eventually went out and hung himself. He truly fell quickly and permanently. All hypocrites can know that this end looms before them. They can try to escape all they want - but the fact is either by an exposure here and now or by the judgment in the end - they are going to fall - and fall badly. The one who walks "blamelessly" is the one who will be delivered. This is an encouragement for all men to live a godly life. They reject the lies and deception of those who play games with their relationship with God. By this - and by the grace of God they are delivered from the destruction of sin itself. But this proverb goes even deeper - and presents to us the gospel. Those of us who desire to live for The Lord give it our best shot - but in the end we will not be "blameless" before The Lord. We unfortunately will sin - and that takes us out of the category of the blameless. But there is One who lived His entire time on the earth in a blameless state - never breaking God's Law - never sinning once. That One is Jesus Christ - and He is the One who was delivered first - to death - and then in the resurrection - from death. His deliverance to death was for our sakes - so that He could pay the price for our sin and rebellion required by God's holiness and justice. His deliverance from death in the resurrection reveals to us that God accepted the payment of His blood for our sins. Now, here is the tremendous news of the gospel. Through His blamelessness and His death, burial, and resurrection we can now be granted the same deliverance from the wrath of God against sin. The wise man knows that any attempt he makes on his own to get to God will be dogged by his own sinful duplicity. I cannot tell you how often I tried to clean myself up from my sin and bad character and choices - only to find that I could never finish the job I started. What was the most disappointing was the fact that often I simply chose sin and rebellion to God. I did so just because it felt good - or because my flesh wanted something, and I didn't want to "just say no." The fact is I couldn't "just say no." And a wise man realizes he can't either. We all wind up hypocrites who try it both ways only to find we fall all at once when our sinful selfishness rises up and demands its own way. The comfort to us who are wise enough to see our fallen conditin is that there is One who walked blamelessly before God. His choice was to always do what pleased His Father. Jesus is that One - and He will graciously grant us His deliverance from sin by grace. Thus we are rescued from the twisted way we walk by our very nature. But that rescue is never self-earned. It is received as we receive the grace of God in Jesus Christ proclaimed to us in the gospel. A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him. Proverbs 28:17
This proverb is stated in the context of God's wisdom about leaders and kings. Therefore most likely it refers to those leaders who have gained and maintained their power through the shedding of much human blood. The key to seeing this is the admonition that such a man is not to be "supported." The idea behind this admonition is that one would throw their support behind such a man as their leader, which in their day would mean the king. Ahab was a man who had shed much human blood. His power was maintained through intimidation and violent suppression of anyone who opposed him. He even allowed his wife, Jezebel, to act on his behalf to kill a man simply because he wanted his vegetable garden. When this happened, God sent Elijah to him because God had had enough of Ahab's wickedness and bloodshed. The Lord had Elijah tell both Ahab and Jezebel that they were going to come to violent deaths themselves. This is why we do not want to support violent men. The frightening aspect of God's judgment upon this wicked couple is that not only did they die - but their entire group of advisors were killed as well. Another king who shed much innocent human blood was king Manasseh. His 40 year reign was marked by more bloodshed than anyone before him. Toward the end of his reign God sent a conquering nation against him and had him watch as his army was destroyed and he was taken into captivity. It was in a dungeon that he realized that Jehovah was God. He turned to God in repentance and brokenness - and God in his marvelous mercy forgave and redeemed this wicked king. God's favor came to him as he was returned to Judah as king. It was after this time that he removed all the wicked false gods from the land and returned to seek The Lord with all his heart. When I review this I wonder, how could God support Manasseh after all the blood he spilled? The answer to such a question is found hundreds of years later in what Jesus Christ did by going to the cross. The fact of the matter is that Manasseh did not get away with anything. His sins (and ours as well) fell upon Jesus at the cross. They were paid in full in His death and resurrection. The only reason God supported Manasseh after he repented was because the penalty for his sin fell on God's Son instead. Thus what we have in Manasseh is an example of God's mercy and grace in the extreme. There was another man laden with innocent blood who stands as the New Testament extreme of God's grace in Jesus Christ. His name is Saul - who later was renamed Paul. The apostle whom God used to write the majority of the New Testament - was another who deserved no support because he was laden with the guilt of human blood. Yet God showed him mercy. Why would God show such grace to two of the most notorious men in the Bible laden with human blood. Paul answers that question in 1 Timothy 1:16 when he said, "Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life." God gave grace to these two men - one in the Old Testament and another in the New - as an example of his pefect patience and His incredible mercy and grace. If God can show grace to these men - we should take great comfort knowing that He can save us too! So what do we learn from today's proverb? We learn that a man laden with the blood of men should not be our leader. We should beware when a man wants to rise to power on the blood of others. But we should also remember two, laden with human blood, who teach us of the depths of God's mercy and grace. We should remember that such amazing love is available to all who respond to the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. There is hope for all - even those laden with the blood of the human race. Hallelujah! He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. Proverbs 28:13
Here is a proverb that agrees perfectly with what is said in the New Testament. We read in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the truth of 1 John 1:9 stated in another way. Whereas the 1 John passage states this truth in the positive only, this proverb also warns us of the consequences and danger of not dealing with our sins. The Concealer . . . First we are told about the fate of the one who conceals his transgressions. The word "conceal" means to cover - and has the idea of a cover up. This man is hiding his transgressions (word meaning a sin or rebellion - here against God and His Law and His way). Thus the concealer is not willing to bring his sin to light before God. He therefore hides his rebellion thinking that God does not see him. This same word was used to describe how Joseph's brothers tried to hide their sin when they dipped his coat in goat's blood and brought to Jacob. There was an attempted cover up by Joseph's brothers which eventually came to light. In the same way, we are warned against covering up our sins. They will come to light - and the way this happens in by a loss of the blessing of God. Psalm 32:5 also speaks of his particular sin of hiding and trying to cover up our sin. The Psalmist says, "I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah." When he was trying to hide his sin from God, the Psalmist had nothing but grief and pain. When he faced his sin before God he received forgiveness. Hiding our sins is not only counterproductive - it is also ridiculously foolish. We serve a God Who is omniscient. He knows all things. When Adam and Eve tried to hide in the garden - it was out of shame and rebellion. The problem for them was that God could still see them - and did even as they committed the first sin. Cain answered God rebelliously when God asked where his brother Abel was. Cain must have thought God did not see - but he did - and Abel's blood was crying out to God from the ground. Moses thought he could kill the Egyptian and hide him in the piles of grain - but God saw - as well as some other Hebrews. HEre is a fact you should always remember. We can never hide our sin from a holy, omniscient God. He truly sees all! He warns his people, "Be sure that your sins will find you out!" Proverbs tells us that this man who is trying to conceal his sin will not prosper. Prosper is the Hebrew word "tsalach" which means to succeed or to be victorious. This word has the idea of breaking out or breaking through - and has a military aspect to it. It spoke of how an army would break through their enemies - which was a sure sign that they were about to win the battle and defeat them. Proverbs says to us is that concealing our sins is way to ensure we will NOT PROSPER. God wants us to confess and forsake our sin. When we choose rebellion and sin against God, we are in serious trouble. We are facing judgment if we do not know Christ - or discipline if we do. What we need is grace - we need God's compassion. That is exactly what Proverbs is wanting to teach us. God wants us to know how to obtain His compassion when we sin? How do we obtain God's compassion and restoration? First, we confess our sins and rebellion. What is fascinating here is the word that God uses to describe confession. The Hebrew word is "yadah." This word means to throw towards - to cast something towards. Here it means to throw off our sin and cast it towards God. It means that we are throwing all our sin and rebellion to God - with a desire for Him to show us forgiveness and compassion. What is wild is that this same word is used for praising God - meaning that we are casting our hands up into the air and casting our praises toward God. God does not want us to try to hold our sins close to us - He wants us to cast those sins away from us and toward Him for His compassion and grace! There is a second thing that puts us in line for God's compassion and forgiveness. Some teach that all we need to do is to confess our sins and everything is fine with God. That is partially true. There is suppose to be a second attitude present. If it is not - I do not believe the Bible says that we will receive forgiveness. That attitude or action is to forsake our sins. This word means to abandon, desert, leave behind, completely neglect and STOP. When we come to God seeking His compassion and forgiveness - we need to come with a heart that says, "Please forgive me God . . . and I also want to forsake and abandon my sin." This is the kind of heart that finds compassion and forgiveness before God. This verse is vital in us knowing the fellowship and grace of God. It is so important for us to grasp the call of God to deal with our sins and rebellion. I honestly believe that just as 1 John 1:9 is such a blessed verse - this verse in Proverbs 28:13 is as well. Oh that we would hear this and heed it as well. It would throw open to us the door to God's grace, mercy, and compassion that we need every day of our lives.  A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, But he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days. Proverbs 28:16
When a leader becomes an extortioner either through bribes or through taxation - he is not a wise leader at all. Today's Proverb has to do with governing officials and how they receive the money with which they work - and by which they are paid. We are presented with a leader who according to Solomon is a "great oppressor." The word "oppressor" is very interesting because it, along with the second half of this proverb, opens up the meaning for us. The Hebrew word is "masaqqot" and it means one who oppresses by extortion. Zhodiates' dictionary defines this word this way, "It indicates a leader abusing his people by forcing them to pay money or contribute goods against their will. This he then uses to enrich himself and those ruling with him. An unwise leader is one who decides that the money of the people he rules is his money. It belongs to the government - and therefore to him and those who serve with him. There are numerous instances where government leaders tax their people - and use that money to enrich themselves. They also use it to enrich those who support them - making sure that anyone who is their friend, supporter (or in our society, voter, campaign contributor) is rewarded richly for their efforts. In the times of kings this group was their nobles and knights - in today's society it is donors and voters. God allowed for His people to be taxed for the purpose of their governmental leaders. He also warned the leaders not to oppress His people by taxing them exorbitantly. Bribes also were expressly forbidden by God. The proverbs are filled with wisdom that promotes hard work and labor so that we can be blessed and become more and more financially blessed by it. Nowhere in Scripture does God encourage government to take confiscatory taxes from the people and redistribute it to those whom the government desires to bless. We are told that any leader who does this kind of thing is lacking understanding. To understand something meant that you had gathered data together and were putting the pieces together so that you got a much bigger picture of things. In the context in which we find this proverb we are speaking of God's wisdom and knowledge being gathered so that we have an understanding of things beyond that of just this earth. It is seeing far enough into the future to make a wise decision and follow wise actions. The financially oppressive leader truly lacks any vision into the future. Government leaders have authority - but it is high level authority to lead and serve people as God would have them go. Their role, like any other is to serve the people - and bless them with how they lead a nation. Unfortunately for some people, their leaders see their authority and misuse it to get rich or to stay in authority by oppressing the people with ridiculous, oppressive taxes. The king and his officials live lavishly off the people's money - and care little for the plight of the average man. They think the tax money of the people is their own to use as they see fit. They then see fit to line their pockets and their supporter's pockets. Often this is done as the rest of the nation suffers under the load of larger and larger taxed amounts. We are told that the one who hates this kind of unjust gain will prolong his days. Two things we see here. First, God calls this kind of ungodly confiscation of the goods of hard working people "unjust." It is not good - and God does not approve of it. Second, we see that this kind of activity in government will not last long. The people will inevitably rise up and call for this to stop! History has shown that leaders who oppress their people with extortionary taxes will eventually be overthrown. Kings and queens have been beheaded - dictators overthrown, and elected officials voted out of office because they were making themselves rich on the people's taxes. Unfortunately for us, we've watched over the years as our leaders on both sides of the aisle have voted themselves to wealth and to pensions that are beyond imagination - while taxing us out of more and more of the money we earn. Over the past four years alone - the Washington D. C. area has grown in wealth and luxury, while the populace is either given the wealth of others through taxation - or taxed barren to provide such things. As I studied this passage - and looked over history - I saw again and again leaders who loved their unjust gain. This was the case whether the government was a monarchy or a representative republic like our own. Men are greedy and want to be rich. They will do so even while falsely championing the "little guy" in their speeches. The one thing that we can be sure of though is that these governments will not long endure. They will fall just like all the others have over the years who have oppressed their people with their taxation and schemes to be rich on the people's dime. When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field, And there will be goats' milk enough for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens. Proverbs 27:25-27
These last three verses of Proverbs 27 are additional commentary on verses 23-24. Thus they deal with keeping watch or being aware of your flocks and herds. These verses are practical commentary on that activity. They are also very helpful to us who desire to build and maintain a godly work ethic in ours or any other society. The first statement here seems like common sense to us. It speaks of the fact of the seasons and how one who tills the ground needs to be aware of them. When the grasss disappears, then the new growth is seen. There will be a time each year when the grass of the field dies in the fall and winter. The farmer is also reminded that during this time the herbs of the mountains need to be gathered into the barns. Again, this may seem like something that does not need to be said. The reason it is said is because, due to the fall, men are undisciplined and lazy. There is only a brief window of time that this can be done - and if not done at this time - the farmer will lose yield. If left undone for a long period of time - he will lose everything to decay, mildew, and decomposition. This has something to say to us. We may not have grass oriented crops like hay, wheat, or barley. We may not have herbs on the mountains that should be gathered and put away for use in the next year. We do have responsibilities that fall to us though. Many of these things need to be done promptly. How many have received a late notice on a bill because we did not pay it "in season." Will this keep us out of heaven? No it won't, but for many it will mean anywhere from 20-50 dollars of lost wealth because we did not act "in season" to get something done that requires diligence in a certain time line. More is said to us in verses 26-27, this time about principles of building and using wealth. Note that we are told that the lambs will be for our clothing. There is a reason to do all that the farmer does. He does not just grow grass. He diversifies into raising livestock. He has lambs that are for clothing. He has goats he milks not just for his own family to drink, but to sell so that he can buy a field with the profit. There is the wisdom of provision for oneself, and for the continued growth of wealth and provision for a family and a growing number of people who are dependent on your growing enterprises. Mentioned here are one's own household as well as one's maidens. Thus a wise man knows that the current level of wealth and provision today needs to be expanded as he expands his family and his business. What does this require? Hard work - and an attention to detail - at least an attention to doing things as they need to be done. What is the wisdom for us today then, in light of these verses? The first wise thing we are to learn is that opportunity for blessings comes and goes. If we are not alert to the seasons of God's working, we will miss the blessing being unaware or lazy. Within the framework of His seasons, we need to act and work hard. The second piece of wisdom offered is this, our work blesses us for today - and for the future. The lifestyle lived from paycheck to paycheck is not a wise way to live. We work in such a way to bless us with today's provision - and to make wise choices for expansion of that provision as God blesses. The wise man lives in the moment and is thankful for what God has given him. There can be a danger of having greed enter our minds so that we make Nabalish choices to be selfish and self-centered. The rich farmer who thought his riches were only for his current enjoyment and pleasure found his soul in hell because he was not living for eternity. This, though, does not justify us in being foolish in expanding what we do for the sake of added family provision. There will be children and grandchildren. There will be expanded business opportunity that will bless additional employees. There will be changes in the market - changes in society - and changes even in the weather and providence. We should be wise enough to learn how to read such things and make adequate provision for them as God guides us. Being godly and wise does not mean throwing our brains away. We can acquire business acumen and wisdom concerning how to be more productive. We can build a business while trusting and relying upon the Lord. That is what is being said here. May God give us wisdom to look to Him day by day - and yet still be wise enough to provide for an expanded future of blessings all as we look to Him for the blessings of today's provision and tomorrow's expansion. Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. Proverbs 27:23-24
Today as we look at the Ministry of Neglect and how to avoid it, we are going to look at the area of our jobs or businesses. This admontion goes in two directions - one is for the man who works for someone else and needs to know and not neglect his job. The second direction is for the man who own his own business and therefore is the one in charge of all things - and therefore truly does need to know the condtion of his business because if he does not, then no one will. How do you watch the condition of your flocks if you simply work for someone else. The way you do this is by first working hard at your job. You do what your boss desires for you to do - and you do what you can to care for and make your boss successful (as long as it is legal). Those of you who spend too much time listening to the world may think to yourself that you see no reason why you should work so hard for "the man." But this is an ungodly attitude. We are to work hard as unto the Lord according to Scripture - and that means working so as to bless your boss. Your attitude should be selfless - even unto him. Let me share an illustration from my own life in this regard. When I was in school I had a job at UPS. This was a very hard job - and the people for whom I worked were not the most grateful folks in the world. But I appreciated having the job and knew that God had given it to me. As a result, I worked hard and sought to make my bosses successful. I was working for THE Man - the God-man, Jesus Christ. The wonderful thing about this is that you will stick out like a sore thumb in our society. Hard workers who don't constantly complain are in short supply - and believe me - your boss will appreciate having one. And even if he doesn't you can know you will receive reward from The Lord in the end. If you are the boss - and own your own business - you had better know well the condition of your business. The truth is (and all those of you who own businesses know this) that if you don't do this, no one else will. That is why it is important to keep up with what is happening with your customers, your employees, and the financial health of your business. The wise man knows that no matter what place he has in the workforce, he needs to pay attention to his role and do it as unto The Lord. That way he is blessed whether he is the one who receives the profits from the business or he just receives a weekly paycheck. Either way you will be blessed - bless others - and in the end receive a blessing from The Lord in all that you do. Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. Proverbs 27:23-24
We are on day three of our look at the Ministry of Neglect - and how to avoid it. Today, we will look at knowing well the condition of our families. This area is one where we are truly dealing with a "flock" God holds us accountable to lead and love. The commands to love our wives and to rear our children in the fear and admonition of The Lord are pretty clear. Yet in the midst of everything that is going on in our lives, it is too easy to not pay attention to these precious people God gives to us. Note the second half of this verse. Riches are not forever - nor does a crown endure to all generations. There are riches in every area of which we speak. For the family, these riches are the people themselves. These riches are the relationships we have with our spouses and with our children. My relationship with my wife grows a day shorter every day that we live. If I am not careful I will spend a lifetime with a woman I hardly know. Too many marriages wind up being two people who are strangers living in the same home. Do you know your wife? Do you love her? Are you spending time with her - leading her spiritually and loving her in concrete ways? We can get so busy with work - with school - with sports - with life itself that we realize that we've not spent time just being with, talking to, and loving our spouses. Now consider your children. Here is where we see not only the riches of knowing and being with them, but also the part of this proverb that says how the crown will not endure. If you are a dad or mom, you have a crown in your family. You are to rear your children for Christ. As your children grow up - they want to be with you and learn from you. But remember, the crown will not endure forever. They will grow up and eventually have a mind of their own. They will quickly grow to where they have their own goals, their own spouse, their own family. The crown you have will be passed to your children. Lead and love while you can. Know the condition of their hearts. Know where they are spiritually. Know what they need. Honestly . . . just know them! There will be stressful and hard times - but learn to enjoy your children. The Ministry of Neglect is unfortunately rampant in our society when it comes to marriage and family. The world says to us that our value and meaning is attained by success in our work. We are successful because of what we do. This leads to neglected marriages and neglected children. Over generations this can be multiplied again and again to where an entire society is damaged. The wisdom of knowing the condition of your spouse - of your marriage - and of your family is worth the time it takes to gain it. It will help us grow spiritually - and it will prevent many problems. May God give us grace to walk in true understanding of the little flock God grants to us - in our homes. Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. Proverbs 27:23-24 As we look at this passage in Proverbs 27, we are examining the Ministry of neglect. This proverb is encouraging us to know the condition of things in our lives well! The example used is for our flocks - and yet many of us do not have any livestock. The wisdom that is offered is that we know well the things that are important in our lives. Over the next week we'll be looking at six different areas of our lives in which it is wise for us to avoid the "Ministry of Neglect" that just seems to come to naturally to us all. The first area we will look at is our personal lives. In this area we need to know well the condition of our heart. This speaks to our spiritual condition before God. How are you doing spiritually? Are you being more Christlike in your actions and attitudes? Are you showing spiritual growth so that the fruit of the Spirit is evident in how you live? On a different level, are you reading the Word of God daily? What about prayer - are you praying? Are you sharing your faith with others - and being an instrument of God's grace and love in your local fellowship? A good thing to do, if you want to keep up with such things, is to occasionally have a brother or sister in Christ lovingly, yet honestly, answer these questions. Want a real challenge? Ask your wife and your children. Another area of our personal lives is our health. This is one that if often overlooked - and yet according to 1 Corinthians 6:19 - our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. So the question is applicable - how is your health? Are you eating well - or is the sin of gluttony resulting in health issues for you? Are you exercising regularly? Are you getting enough sleep and resting on a regular basis (God suggests 1 out of every 7 days for this). If you do not take care of yourself - you should not be surprised if your body - and even your mental state begins to fall apart. I am not saying that we should turn into health and fitness fanatics - just that we should do a basic job of caring for ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. How are you doing mentally and emotionally? Are you practicing good mental health? Do you live in reality - or is most of your time spent in a fantasy land - either on television or in an online game. Are you living for online relationships more than those around you in your home? Too many find themselves locked into the online world rather than the real one. Then there are mental habits. How are you doing with your mind? Are you reading and learning anything? This is something people don't grasp in our society. We are becoming a society of morons - because we don't do anything to benefit our minds. There is so much out there besides television (and especially besides reality TV) that can help you become a smarter person. Are your reasoning skills advancing - or are you letting the TV, radio, and others think for you? Oh, how much we lose when we don't practice good mental habits. The potential here is massive - and few if any of us tap into it. One last area that I'll meddle in is our personal finances. How are they going? Are we exercising wisdom in how we are handling the money God gives to us? Do we look like a wise or a foolish steward of what God places into our hands? It is actually wise to occasionally take a step back and see if we are being wise - and are practicing self-control over our spending habits. If not - we can suddenly find that our bank account will not sustain us at a level we are currently living. I can only imagine how much many have been offended by this particular post. We are not exactly an honest people when it comes to stepping back and taking a real look at ourselves. If it helps any - I was pretty convicted in several areas of my own life just writing this. Doing this can help us so much though. Remember - this post is about the Ministry of Neglect. It is too easy for us to forget areas of our lives - until they come back to bite us in the rear. That is why I would encourage you to schedule a quarterly check-up . . . for yourself. You might be shocked at how it helps keep you on track. I know that writing this has made me consider a few ways that the ministry of neglect has been active - and - I can see how if I continue to neglect things - I'll end up paying a lot more than I want to in my future.
Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. Proverbs 27:23-24
This verse in Proverbs kicks off a section that deals with diligence, as well as the fact of change in life. The wisdom offered here is to pay attention to things in your life because the one thing that will never change is that there is going to be change in your life. Time will march on whether you are paying attention to the parade or not. The danger posed to us by this is that life will change, either financially, politically, or spiritually and we will be caught off-guard by it. One of the most effective ministries anywhere in the world is the ministry of neglect. This is an unintended ministry where we get busy in our lives - and neglect to watch over our finances, our marriage, our children, our business - even our own spiritual growth. Over time the ministry of neglect grows. Most people do not grasp what this ministry is doing until they are jolted as to its presence by a "suddenly-serious" problem. These are things that have been building up (or breaking down in many circumstances) and then make their appearance suddenly to us. One of the best ways to describe this is to make reference to my very patient, very gracious wife. As a guy, I have a tendency to get over-focused in my life. As a result, I have had a pretty amazing track record of having the ministry of neglect in a number of areas of my life. What usually happens is that my precious bride wakes me out of my responbility slumber and alerts me to a way in which my life is in the process of falling apart. Whether it is in regard to my relationship with her - the rearing of our children - our finances - or any number of other things, I am usually shocked to see that there are problems. This rude awakening is a reminder that I truly do need to pay attention to things - many things - far better. The rude awakening is followed by - regret - conviction - repentance - and a flurry of action to put things right. Oh, and occasionally by being mad. The anger is experienced two ways - first I'm mad that someone is interrupting my stupidity (because at the time I don't see how stupid I'm being). Second, I am mad at myself for being so stupid - and letting things fall into disrepair through my ministry of neglect. For the next couple of days, I want to look deeper into what is means to avoid having the ministry of neglect in your life. Before we are done, we'll look at several areas where this is important. We will examine the ministry of neglect and its affect on our personal lives, on our family, on our jobs or businesses, on our churches, and finally even on our nation and those who rule over us in the political structures under which we live. The ministry of neglect can be a very dangerous thing - if we continue in it. It is my hope that over the next several days we can strengthen the ministry of diligence - or said in a more eye-opening way - the ministry of true love. |
 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. 
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