Category: Bondage

A Hilarious Proverb About A Guy With His Hand in a Pile of Food Proverbs 19:24

5/21/2012

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, But will not even bring it back to his mouth. Proverbs 19:24

Here we have one incredibly lazy man. In fact this man's laziness is so bad it is almost comical to picture it. Here is a man who has buried his hand in the dish of food that is set before him. The picture is not of someone who is picking at the top of the food on his plate. This guy has buried his hand into the dish of food, probably covering his entire hand with it. It is as if his appetite has led him to grab all that he can. So we do see initially a selfish attitude - and one who has a huge appetite for what is set before him. But there is a disconnect with this man - because although he can bury his hand in it - there will be little or no real satisfaction from it.

The sluggard has a great appetite - and great desire for things - but he has no ability to bring those desires to pass. He buries his hand in the dish - but he won't work hard enough to even bring it up to his mouth. Again this picture is comical to us. Here is a man with his hand buried deep in the dish. He has grabbed all the food he can handle. The problem is that he is so lazy he won't lift his hand up to his mouth to eat it. This seems so comical that it is a farce to us. Who is so lazy that he won't even lift his food to his mouth to eat. Honestly - there is really no one who would do this at the supper table - but the farcial picture painted for us speaks beyond the supper table. It speaks to spiritual realities - and to the problem that exists with the sluggard.

The sluggard is lazy - that is his problem. The picture before us is one of a man who has great desire - but no discipline to bring it to pass. He has a voracious appetite - but he won't work to see it move from desire to decision to completion. The burying of his hand in the dish speaks of the lazy man's desires. He speaks of wanting things - and speaks of desiring to accomplish great things. He lacks no vision for what he wants - because for many a lazy man - they want the whole world. They do this because they have all the time in the world to develop such fanciful dreams of what could be. The problem is though they can bury their hand in the dish of desire and dreams - they never work to bring their hand up to their mouth and actually fulfill those desires. Here is the crux of this proverb. The lazy man won't work to fulfill his dreams and his desires. He won't apply himself to the tasks that have to be done to accomplish what he wants. Oh the dreams will be huge - but the actual accomplishment of them will be miniscule. His planning box will be full, but the completion box will be empty. We see this every day - in a myriad of men who just won't work - who won't be disciplined to do what is necessary to succeed in their plans.

Those who have just read this might be thinking, "Well why didn't God just say that the lazy man has plans, but he won't work to see them happen?" Because that would not catch our attention. If someone says that - people will ignore him - especially those who are lazy and undisciplined. The sluggard won't even pay attention to that statement. The genius therefore of the Scriptures is that they paint us a picture that catches our attention. To see a sluggard dreaming the hours away without working is . . . well, it's kind of boring. But to see a hungry man with his hand buried in a dish of food. To see that man leave it there, unwilling to even bring it up to his mouth so he can eat . . . well, that's weird! That catches our attention - and makes us think. The sheer ridiculousness of it catches our eye - and makes us look longer - look deeper. It is in that moment that we work to unlock a proverb that will speak volumes to us. In that moment we will see deeply and learn like we have never learned before. We might even learn that our laziness and sluggardly behavior looks almost as ridiculous as that guy sitting there with his hand buried in a plate of food.

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A Call to Moral Sanity, part 6 - Bondage is Coming - Proverbs 5:22

7/16/2011

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His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
Proverbs 5:22

Part of the reason that a father needs to teach his son about moral and sexual sanity is that without it - his son will be trapped and enslaved by his own lusts and by the sexual sin that runs rampant in our world. That is what today's proverb wants to teach us - that sexual sin by its very nature is something that will capture and enslave us if we allow it in our lives.

The father tells his son about the one who allows his sexual sin to run loose in his life. He says that "his own iniquities will capture the wicked." Let's look at that phrase piece by piece to see what is teaches us. First we see that we are pointed toward personal responsibility for our actions. It is not the sin of the harlot that captures the sexually insane. It is HIS OWN INIQUITIES that will capture and enslave him. Too often guys want to blame women for their sins. If the ladies would dress more modestly . . . if the ladies would be more discreet . . . if women wouldn't flirt. There are so many different things we can try to do to shift the blame away from ourselves - but the fact still remains - that our own iniquities are what are going to capture us. We cannot blame anyone else for the state of our heart or the choices that we make in life. The fact is that we will have to give an account for every one of our own actions. Sexual sin begins with a choice in our hearts and minds - not in the actions of anyone else. So what if women dress immodestly - don't look! So what if women are not discreet and flirt with us - ignore them and pay them no attention. At the root of ANY SIN is a choice by the one who committed it to act in that way. So the teaching here is simple - DON'T CHOOSE TO SIN.

The second thing we see here is that these iniquities are a trap. We read that these sins will capture the wicked. The word for "capture" here is the Hebrew word, "lakad" which means to capture or catch something. It speaks of seizing something - like a city or an individual. The nature of sexual sin is the nature of the snare or the trap. The bait is the woman and her looks or her flattery. The trap is the sex or the lust itself. When we choose to look in a sinful way - or to act on lusts within us - the trap snaps shut and we are captured. In a way the father is trying to get his son to see the trap in sexual sin. The last thing we see here is that the trap and the bondage is for the wicked. There is a very clear moral choice that we make when we choose to commit sexual sin. That is a choice to depart from righteousness and instead walk in the way of the wicked. The father is emphasizing this so that his son will have a very clear sense of warning to stay away from situations and from acting according to his lusts.

The father closes this verse with a very scary picture. The wicked man will be held with the cords of his sin. The picture painted by the dad here is of a man whose hands and feet are tied fast with ropes or cords. He cannot move. But the picture here is speaking of sin as the cords and the ropes. Every time he sins - he simply adds another rope - another cord that ties him down. They are tightened with each new instance and with each new foray into the kind of sexual behavior that is outside the bounds of Scripture. The more the young man yields to temptation and sexual immorality, the more he is held fast by new cords and new ropes that bind him ever tighter. Were it not for the Lord's ability to deliver us from our sin and our choices - we would have no hope at all. That is why the father employs such graphic pictures which which to warn his son against such immoral behavior. Such choices have very serious consequences. And it is these very consequences which the father desires to deliver his son from - delivering him from bondage and from shame.

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A Hilarious Proverb About A Guy With His Hand in a Pile of Food Proverbs 19:24

A Call to Moral Sanity, part 6 - Bondage is Coming - Proverbs 5:22

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A Hilarious Proverb About A Guy With His Hand in a Pile of Food Proverbs 19:24

A Call to Moral Sanity, part 6 - Bondage is Coming - Proverbs 5:22

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