For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life. Proverbs 6:23
Today we are going to cover an amazing proverb that applies to every area and every aspect of life itself. Here, like in the gospel, we are told of "the way of life." Unlike in the gospel, this "way of life" is not one that can redeem us from sin - but it can be used by the Holy Spirit to make us a lifetime learner - a disciple who knows how God works through His Word and through the way that it is taught to us by the Spirit. If there was ever a day to listen closely - today would be that day. We are told of two things at the beginning of this proverb. We are told of the commandent and the teaching. These two things are compared to a lamp and to light. First we have the commandment. This is the same word that is used for God's 10 commandments. It refers to God's Law - and I believe beyond the Old Testament it can be applied to the inspired Word of God anywhere in the Old or New Testaments. We are told here that the commandment is a lamp. A lamp is something that can emit light if used properly. The lamp will always have the potential for light to come from it. It is something that holds light - and if lit it will radiate light. Interesting for us who understand the figures and types that are used for God's Holy Spirit, a lamp is filled with oil which is a type throughout the Old Testament for the Spirit and His work. When that oil is lit - the lamp produces light. In much the same way, the Word of God always has within it the teaching of the Holy Spirit - His leading and His instruction, warning, and rebuke. When we come to God's Word, the lamp, we have the wonderful working of the Spirit of God as He illumines the Scriptures for us. But before we think that simply reading or hearing the Word will always produce light, we need to remember that the commandment is a lamp. It can produce light - but it can also remain unlit and just be a lamp. There are those who misuse God's Word and no light comes forth. The devil himself quoted the Scriptures to Jesus - to try and get Him to sin. In that instance the lamp did not produce light - but it was abused to promote darkness. There are also professors even at semniaries who do not believe the Bible is the Word of God. The teaching they do promotes darkness. This means that we cannot make a blanket statement that when the Bible is taught or read that it always results in light. The second statement made here is that the teaching is light. First off we need to note here that we are not reading that the teaching is the light. "THE" light is reserved for references to Jesus Christ Himself - God - and amazingly enough, us when we are manifesting God's character to others. Here we read that the teaching is light. The word for teaching here is the Hebrew word "torah." Here torah means instruction or direction. In the Old Testament the word mean instruction in a general manner from God Himself. The idea here is that the command is the lamp - and when the Spirit or a Spirit-inspired teacher is instructing from it - the lamp becomes light - or begins to illumine with light. This is so important for us to grasp because it is the very way that God will instruct and teach us. We come to the Word, but we covet that when we do the Holy Spirit instructs us as we read and as we meditate upon what the Word says. Do not misunderstand me to say that the Bible becomes the Word as it is taught. That is false doctrine. The Bible is always the inspired Word of God that gives us the revelation of God. It is just that we are blind to it without the instruction of the Holy Spirit who opens our hearts and spirits so that we can receive what God says. That is why I think it is important to consciously ask the Spirit of God to teach us when we come to the Word of God. There is one other thing this passage teaches us about the functioning of the Word in our lives. Today there are many who teach that the major reason for God's Word is that we can "confess who we are" in a positive way. There is a potential problem with this doctrinal view. We can get to the point where we only receive "positive" messages about ourselves from God's Word - and not conviction of sin. When we read this passage though, it seems that we are learning something contrary to the positive confession doctrine. "And reproofs for discipline are the way of life." When we read this we have to come to the conclusion that a large part of what the Word of God is going to do is reprove us. It is probably at least one fourth of what it does because we read in 2 Timothy 3:16 that the Word of God is profitable for reproof. Actually the 2 Timothy passage says not just reproof, but also correction as well. The Word of God comes to us often to reprove and correct us. One of God's complaints against the false prophets is that they would whitewash Israel's sin. They would constantly talk about blessing without helping Israel and Judah to see that they had sinned against the Lord. It does not matter how many "positive" confessions you make to yourself, God, and others - if you have unconfessed sin in your life - God will not bless you. And since we are fallen creatures who live in a fallen world - we need for God to reveal to us that when we are acting "fallen!" If you read Romans 7 - you do not come away with the thought that Paul just needed to be more positive. He was wrestling with very real sin - and a very real fleshly, sinful nature that could not be defeated except through Jesus Christ. That is why we need desperately to see that we need to be reproved and disciplined by God to become all that God desires for us to be in Christ. Without that reproof and correction, we will not know from what we need to turn. The way of life is through being disciplined by God - and that involves the Lord reproving us for our sin. When we come to His Word - His commandments - He is going to reveal to us how we have sinned against Him. He does not do this because He hates us. Contrary to that thought, He does it because He loves us! He desires for us to share in His holiness (Hebrews 12) - and that means He wants us to share in His life. Wisdom is coming to God's Word in the right way each day. It means that we approach the Lord each day being open to what He wants to teach us. As we do this we also open ourselves to His Spirit to reveal to us that we may have sinned - or we may be lacking godly character - or a good attitude toward an authority. There are any number of ways that God might speak to our hearts and help us to abandon sin - and embrace His holiness. Regardless of what specifics are involved, God desires to bring blessing into our lives through this process. Remember - the reproofs and discipline are the way of life! He is bringing you life when He does these things. Be wise therefore and receive what He is saying each day - whether it is encouragement, exhortation, teaching, or reproof. They are all in his arsenal of blessing to conform you to the image of His Son and change you to be a better vessel for the blessing of not just yourself - but everyone around you.
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Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life. Proverbs 4:13
If we want the life of God, we will have to embrace the ways in which God grants us life. The way He does this initially is by grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ. After God grants us His life this way - there are ways that we can experience and enjoy the life He provides in Jesus. One of the ways that God continues to bless us with life is by us embracing His instruction in our lives. The word for instruction here is the Hebrew word "musar" which means instruction and discipline. Throughout proverbs this instruction and discipline comes primarily through the father and the mother in the family. They come as a teacher to their children offering them this instruction via teaching and at times the rod. Some might squirm a little when we speak of discipline, but the Scriptures are clear that God disciplines us because He loves us. Hebrews 12:5-11 is an excellent passage that might help us here in seeing how we receive life through God's instrutive discipline. Hebrews 12:5-11 says, "You have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. " God's instructive discipline does many things. First it reminds us that God loves us as His sons. Second, we know that God disciplines us for our good - not because He is angry and disgusted with us. Third we learn that God's discipline is done for good, that we mighy share His holiness. Without discipline we would rebel against Him - but the discipline reminds us that we are being conformed to His image - and that involves being conformed to His holiness. Lastly, His instructive discipline will yield peace in our lives. As we are conformed to His image - as we are made righteous as He is righteous - there will be great blessing - as well as great peace added to our lives. God's instruction is not solely disciplinary - much of it is instructive as God is showing us the way to God - the things to say - the people to whom we need to minister. But for us to get the full blessings of it we will have to follow what Solomon is telling us to do here. We need to "take hold" of this instruction and "guard" it. Taking hold of instruction means that with great strength we grab it. The idea behind this word is to grab something with a powerful grip and not let go. Elsewhere in Proverbs we are told to listen intently with a view toward obedience. This is what we are being told in another way here. We have such a tendency to partially hear someting - or to hear it with no intent to obey or make what we hear an integral part of our lives. We need to latch on to whatever we are taught by the Holy Spirit - and to put a death griip on it - so it does not slip away from us. The proverb tells us to "guard" the instruction - the teaching - the discipline that we receive from God. This is the word "natsar" that we have encountered so often in this book. It means to watch, the guard, and to keep something. It has the idea of setting a guard - a watchman - a sentry over our instruction from God. We cannot come away from this admonition without seeing clearly God is warning us NOT to forget something - NOT to let it go - NOT to let it slip away from us as we think of other things later. Our Lord knows how prone we are to be distracted and forget things. If we want life, we will have to counteract this by forcefully taking hold of the things God teaches us. Wisdom is taking what God teaches us very seriously - and taking His discipline the same way. If we do this we will be fully embracing the life that He desires to pour into our lives. Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way; He who hates reproof will die. Proverbs 15:10
What happens when we depart from God's ways? According to this passage in Proverbs there is a very serious consequence for us when we do this. Even worse is what awaits us if we go even further than this and reject God's reproof after we've left his ways. What is at stake here? Well, what drives this particular proverb is the idea of "forsaking the way." "The way," refers to God's way - the way of his commandments. Several times the phrase, "the way of the Lord" is used to refer to this. If you want to understand it better you can turn to the 119th Psalm which calls it by various names like, "the way of righteousness," "the way of Your testimonies," "the way of Your precepts," "the way of Your statutes," as well as what we've already said as the way of God's commandments. This way is the commands and the things God calls us to be and to do in His Word. When we "forsake" this way, we are doing the following. We no longer listen carefully to God's Word - we don't pay heed to it or obey it. But the core idea here is no longer listening or paying attention to someone. That Someone here is God. In case you do not know what this means - it means as you listen - you do so in order to respond and obey God. What happens when we forsake God's way? The Word here says that we face "grevious punishment." The word translated for this is the Hebrew word "ra" - and it simply means, bad things! When you no longer walk with God, listen to Him, or obey Him - bad things are going to eventually happen in your life. This is the case no matter whether you are His or not. If you take a close look at the progress (or regress) of the world around you, you can see that ignoring and forsaking God's ways has never led to a world of peace and blessing. By its very nature this world works best when God's ways and paths are followed. When they are ignored - or worse - shunned, things go bad. This is a fait accompli - an established fact! Now a second warning is also issued at this point - and I think it is a reminder that God's rebuke and reproof are proofs of His love - not hate. When we forsake God's way, we will face bad things, but when we go further and ignore His loving reproof of those ways and continue in rebellion - we are headed toward death. It is God's great mercy and love that arrests us in our rebellion with disciplinary action. He allows difficulties and problems to come to us to turn us from the insanity of abandoning His ways. But when we are too stubborn to listen - we are moving toward death itself. What is terrifying is the warning in 1 John that there is a sin leading unto death - a point at which a disciplinary measure from God involves having a person die. Wisdom tells us to respond to His discipline and His reproof quickly - so that we will not have to go that far. One last comment on this passage. These two truths are just that - truth. But they had their most astounding fulfillment in the cross of Jesus Christ. It was there that we saw the most grievous punishment imaginable. It had nothing to do with the Roman scourage or the nails in the hands of our Savior. It had little or nothing to do with the agony of the cross physically as Jesus gapsed for air as His torn and bruised body slowly died on the cross. But it had everything to do with why Jesus sweat blood the night before in the garden. It had everything to do with the agony of the wrath and judgment of God upon sin. Calling it a grevious punishment seems too small in light of what it truly cost Christ to pay for our sin before His holy Father. That is why we should never take sin in our lives lightly. Yes, our sin was paid in full by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross - but we should always view that truth with both trembling and a sense of honor to God for what He did for us. Otherwise we will take sin too lightly - and risk thinking that forsaking His way really is not that bad - and it really won't cost us much. There is foolish talk that reaches to the heavens themselves - and the kind of talk that will give rise to actions that will in the end yield that grevious punishment and stinging rebuke. Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out, Even strife and dishonor will cease. Proverbs 22:10
How do you get rid of strife and contention in a group? That is what God wants us to be instructed in today in Proverbs. He is about to tell us about the horrific fellow known as the "scoffer." Wherever this man is - there is trouble and strife about to break loose. When we learn how to identify and rid ourselves of him and his ilk, we will find that the dishonor and disunity will go away as well. The word scoffer refers to someone who loves to mock, scorn, deride with great contempt to anyone but himself. The scoffer loves to express his utter contempt with someone with whom he disagrees. He knows nothing of positive criticism - he only knows of mocking and seeking to scorn his enemies. It is not enough for him to merely disagree - he must do it in the most disagreeable way possible! He knows only how to show complete and absolute contempt toward those he finds in his philosophical crosshairs. A wise man knows that mocking his detractors will usually yield him some serious enemies. Very rarely does this tactic yield converts to his way of thinking. Heaping a mocking shame and disgrace on others is not a positive way to communicate a message which you desire to use to change someone's mind and thinking. But that is what the scoffer excells at in life. As a result when he comes around you will also find contention, strife, and dishonor. He will use his words to strike up fights among people. He loves to fight - and loves to accelerate an argument to the point of intense strife. He also loves to see dishonor come to his opponents. He cares little what happens to the organization in which he is wreaking his havoc. He only cares for his own ungodly thoughts and desires. The more damage he can render to his opponents - the better he sees the outcome of his actions. There is one response to such a man - get him out! Scripture says that we are to "drive out" this kind of man. Too often we want to try to win him over to our way of thinking. That is NOT going to happen - because he is un-winnable while he is a scoffer. The New Testament tells us to reject a factious man after a warning. We are not to have a three strikes policy with such dangerous men. Get their contention-stimulating behavior and conversation thrown out of the assembly of God's people. This man knows nothing about how to walk in unity with others. He only airs his own opinions and contentious thoughts. He cares nothing for those of others. The best thing we can offer him - is the way out. This may sound hard - but when dealing with a scoffer, you are not dealing with someone who can be won over. Therefore the best thing to do is to follow the godly advice of Solomon - drive him out! A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool. Proverbs 17:10
God gave me a wonderful man who has a heart after Him to be my mentor. His name is John Dale Rector. John Dale spent 3 years of his life teaching and training me in the things of the Lord. He taught by precept and by example. He also had his hands full as I was a proverbial bull in a china shop with my zeal that lacked wisdom. Thus John Dale had to spend more than his fair share of time rebuking me for my excesses. Thus he taught me a very important verse of Scripture and had me memorize it early in my walk with the Lord. The verse says, "Let a righteous man strike me, it is a kindness." That particular verse has a lot to do with what today's proverb has to teach us. I am an advocate for both verbal and corporal punishment. There is a time for rendering blows to fools. One of those times in during childhood where the responsibility of the parent is to train up a child in the way he should go. It is a time where through loving discipline (which includes spanking) a parent seeks to teach a child what he should and should not do. The parent is not trying to dominate the child or to crush his spirit. The parent IS seeking to help a child grasp what is acceptable and unacceptable to God and to society. But the end of that corporal punishment is to train a child to be a young man or woman who knows two things. First he or she knows how to accept rebuke from the Spirit of God. This happens as he or she is walking through life and about to make un ungodly or unwise decision. The Spirit of God then rises up within to remind of Scripture, to offer correction and guidance with the Word. Some times the Spirit just activates our conscience and we are smitten with a bad sense or feeling - or we just know that what we are about to do, or have done, is wrong. What we desire to do with our children (and in training disciples in the church) is to have them be responsive to that rebuke - to that warning from within. The second way that a parent and discipler wants to train up their charge is to have them be responsive to people who come to them with a word of rebuke. It would be wonderful if everyone who offered such rebuke were being constructive with it - but we all know that is a perfect world and not the real one. The truth is that even non-constructive criticism can be beneficial to us. Therefore we want to be open to all rebuke. The wise thing is to receive the rebuke and be thankful for it. Then take it to the Lord and ask Him to confirm what is in agreement with what He is doing through the Word of God. Then take what God affirms and use it to grow into all the fullness of Jesus Christ in our character and actions. This is how to allow rebuke to go deep within us - rather than just bounce off of us as we reject it outright. The Scripture tells us that in order for this to happen, we have to be one who has "understanding." This is the ability to discern and perceive truth from error - right from wrong - God from the flesh and the world - the work of the Holy Spirit from the work of the devil. We discern an pay attention to what God saying to us. Because of this we truly understand the will of God - and grow wiser because we have learned to see things from His perspective. The proverb tells us that this ability to receive rebuke and understanding from goes deeper into us than a hundred blows into a fool. An interesting thing is that God instructed not to give corporal punishment beyond 39 blows at any time. There is the penalty of imprisonment and even the death penalty that is applied by the state to crimes against society. But God knows that a hundred blows as opposed to 39 would not bring wisdom and understanding into a fool. There is a point where no amount of corporal punishment is effective. The fool rejects all of it - verbal rebuke as well as any kind of physical punishment. Thus we know that all that is left to us is intercessory prayer that God will ultimately break the fool and open his heart to begin to understand. When I read this proverb, I am thankful to those whom God uses to offer rebuke into my life. Let me be perfectly honest that often it is hard to receive the rebuke - and yes, it hurts. But those who wound us can be healers. Remember that when a surgeon does his work he has to injure us before he can take out the cancer that will kill us. We consider the incision made by his knife a good thing - because it is ultimately working healing into our lives. Remember that the next time you receive some verbal surgery through a brother or sister in Christ who loves you. Those words will bring blessing into your life if you receive them and allow God to work through them. If it is hard to remember that - just remember this instead. I'd rather have some verbal surgery - than a hundred blows on my back! POSTSCRIPT: Recently, individuals have quoted articles from this section and stated that we teach child abuse at Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. To this I feel the need to respond. First, biblically, we are told that if we have a problem with our brother to go to our brother - not the internet - and confront our brother. To date, these individuals have yet to contact me to discuss these things. That should say volumes in itself. Second, we do not teach child abuse at our fellowship. This blog is an endeavor to teach what is in the Bible for the edification and upbuilding of God's people. Anyone who has been to our fellowship knows that in our classrooms we administer NO physical discipline. We correct with words and with "time outs" and eventually with a report to parents. From our nursery throughout every age group our people are instructed NEVER to administer physical discipline. We believe this right alone belongs to a parent. Even then we teach the following about any application of physical discipline. Discipline is about the heart of a child. Physical or corporal punishment is ONLY to be administered in a spirit of love for the child. Teaching and loving verbal correction is key - as is prayer for the child's eventual salvation in Jesus Christ. Any physical punishment administered due to anger or rage is out of line and wrong. The parent is to discipline the child with appropriate discipline - not abuse. In the end the child should be taught - and in every circumstance hugged, loved, and prayed with after any physical punishment to assure them of our love. The idea of a "beating" is completely out of step with what the Scriptures are teaching. Instead the idea of loving discipline is intended. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you. Proverbs 9:8
Wisdom manifests itself in how we receive reproof. Here we see two people who experience reproof or correction. How they respond to that reproof has everything to do with whether they are a fool or whether they are wise. First we see a person who is called a scoffer. The word "scoffer" means one who boasts, scorns, mocks, or derides another. The reason that the scoffer does this is to express utter contempt of the person or comment that has been made to him. The context for the scoffers utter contempt is that of having someone reprove him. When he faces correction he reacts with complete disdain for the one who has offered the correction. To emphasize his disgust for the person who has tried to offer correction or constructive criticism, we read that this scoffer will hate them. There are those who bristle immediately to any correction or reproof offered to them. This indicates that they are indeed a fool. To say that one does not need any correction is to say that one is perfect. It is indeed a sad thing to watch someone who thinks in their own mind that they are the manifestation of perfection itself. They are above criticism - because everything they do and everything they say is without flaw. First of all this is the highest form of arrogance and pride. We all make mistakes and have flaws. When someone offers us correction - whether constructive or not - it is an opportunity for us to embrace humility and see ourselves improve. Second, when we reject correction, we are saying that we ourselves are the judge of what is right and wrong. The fool rejects any evaluation of himself - and chooses his own horrifically flawed and prejudiced view of himself as truth. That is the only way he or she can be deceived enough to think that they are above criticism. Finally, the fool who rejects correction is actually rejecting love. It is love that often motivates people to correct us. That is the motivation of loving parents and others who only desire us to succeed and prosper. It is the motivation of God who desires us to be a partaker of His righteousness. But the fool who rejects all this - rejects the very ones who love him the most. The wise man loves the one who reproves him. He understands that someone who is reproving him is not against him, but for him. This word reprove means to argue and convince, and was used to speak of those who would "prove" something. We need to see this word in this way because "proving" something was done by submitting it to the heat of a crucible - for the purpose of refining it. This was done only for one of two reasons. You proved something either to make it more valuable - or to make it stronger. The scoffer sees reproof as an attack - or as inaccurate information being used to hurt him. The wise man sees the reproof as something positive. He is being refined so that impurities are removed from his life. He is being refined so that weaknesses are taken out. He is being refined to be even more valuable in the Lord's work. He is being refined to be more valuable to God's kingdom and people. The reproof is making him stronger - better - richer. As he receives the reproof this way - the correction does its work - and he is blessed as a result. It is not fun or pleasant to be reproved or corrected. If it was - everyone would want it all the time in their lives. The fool looks at reproof only through eyes that see the negative. He is too focused on his own comfort and his own ego being protected at all costs. The wise man looks beyond the possible unpleasantness of the moment. He sees the value of refining and the blessing of having potentially harmful things removed from this character. He knows the benefit of this experience will far outweigh its problems and difficulties. If we want to be wise, we too will begin to love those who reprove us and help us to become more Christlike - and of greater use to our Master. Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12
This is a simple admonition here in Proverbs - and yet if we will look at it carefully, it will yield to us some very helpful information. The first thing we see is that we are to apply our heart to discipline. The word "apply" here means, "to bring to" - thus what God is saying to us is that we need to bring our hearts to something. Here we read that what we bring our hearts to is discipline. The word discipline is "musar" which means to instruct with discipline. It refers most often to the discipline given by a father - both by word and by the rod. It is very easy when discipline is applied to us for us to not allow it to reach the heart. We may hear the words - and receive the correction - but we do not bring our hearts to it. True correction and discipline is for the heart - not the bottom. It might be applied to the rear end with the rod - but the aim in these things needs to be directly to the heart. Those who protest the use of the rod see the issue being striking a child - and they see it as evil in all circumstances. But the godly parent is not aiming for the rear end alone. They want to instruct with their discipline. They want their words and their use of the rod to affect the heart of the child. If you have their heart - in the end you will truly change their behavior. What Solomon is saying though, is for the one receiving the discipline. Apply your heart to what God is trying to teach you. If you are like me - there are times when you bristle at discipline. It is not pleasant to have God apply the rod to us. It is not a delightful thing for us to be corrected and rebuked. But when God grants us discipline it is only for our best interests. We can be absolutely assured of this. Therefore we need to train ourselves to receive it joyfully - gratefully - and educationally. If we do, maybe we won't need a second dose of discipline to complete the job for us. The second admonition here is that we also apply our ears to words of knowledge. Knowledge here refers to more than just head-learning. Solomon is telling us about a knowing of God and His ways. He refers to a working knowledge - a practical knowledge - intimate knowledge - knowledge that truly changes the way we act. The verb "apply" is assumed here - thus we are told to bring our ears to this knowledge that God is seeking to give us. It is more than just hearing it - it is concentrated listening. It is listening to learn and to apply it to one's life. This is key to us becoming wise. If we will truly bring our hearts and ears to what God is seeking to communicate to us, we will be blessed greatly. God longs for us to be wise and to know and follow Him with all our hearts. These two practices - bringing our hearts to times of discipline - and bringing our ears to hear obediently what God says to us - will assure that we grow and personally experience all the godliness that God desires to give us when He works and speaks in our lives. POSTSCRIPT: Recently, individuals have quoted articles from this section and stated that we teach child abuse at Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. To this I feel the need to respond. First, biblically, we are told that if we have a problem with our brother to go to our brother - not the internet - and confront our brother. To date, these individuals have yet to contact me to discuss these things. That should say volumes in itself. Second, we do not teach child abuse at our fellowship. This blog is an endeavor to teach what is in the Bible for the edification and upbuilding of God's people. Anyone who has been to our fellowship knows that in our classrooms we administer NO physical discipline. We correct with words and with "time outs" and eventually with a report to parents. From our nursery throughout every age group our people are instructed NEVER to administer physical discipline. We believe this right alone belongs to a parent. Even then we teach the following about any application of physical discipline. Discipline is about the heart of a child. Physical or corporal punishment is ONLY to be administered in a spirit of love for the child. Teaching and loving verbal correction is key - as is prayer for the child's eventual salvation in Jesus Christ. Any physical punishment administered due to anger or rage is out of line and wrong. The parent is to discipline the child with appropriate discipline - not abuse. In the end the child should be taught - and in every circumstance hugged, loved, and prayed with after any physical punishment to assure them of our love. The idea of a "beating" is completely out of step with what the Scriptures are teaching. Instead the idea of loving discipline is intended. The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. Proverbs 21:5
Planning, to some this word is a blessing - to others (and honestly, I have to say I'm among this number) it is a difficult area of their lives. Yet the Lord has some very pointed things to say here to us about the blessing that comes from diligent planning rather than hastily put together things that happen at the last minute. We read first here that the plans of the diligent surely lead to advantage. The word "plans" will help us to see what is meant here. The word means a thought, purpose, or intention. The idea is that we are thinking through things - considering their purpose and intention - and therefore laying plans that will not only plan an event - but also plan it with a sense of purpose in what it is to accomplish. Here is something which every believer should seriously consider. God has given us the few years we have on this earth as a gift - but also as a responsibility and a trust. How we use these years are important. Do we have a purpose behind the things we are doing? Are they working for us an eternal destiny and an eternal reward - or are we just committing "chonicide" (just killing time). Too many times our lives are just being lived with no real purpose or intention behind what we are doing. That leads to a wasted life. Solomon is telling us that the plans laid with a sense of purpose and intention to live for God's glory and purposes - are beneficial to us. But they are not just haphazard plans - these are plans that are set in place with "diligence." This word means something sharp and industrious. It refers to those people who are living industrious lives that are sharp in their focus and intent. The root word for this referred to a sharp threshing sledge. This was used to cut the harvest - and was sharpened to make the job easier and more effective. One might complain of the time spend with a wetstone or file sharpening the metal. This is hard work after all - and it takes time to sharpen something well. But if you are having to cut entire fields of grain - you know that the few moments spent sharpening your tool can save hours of time and much additional effort. So plans laid by someone who thinks through purpose and intent can make living life much easier and more focused. These kind of plans lead surely to advantage. Here is one of the times when I prefer the King James translation to the NASB. The word here means an abundance. It refers to an abundance of profit, materials, harvest, or whatever the word refers to and modifies. It can also mean advantage or a more favorable position - a superior one to someone who has not planned and thought through their actions. When you plan - you will have abundance and advantage over those who have not thought these things through well. Planning does not negate labor and faithful effort at a task. But it does halp ensure that the labor and effort invested is leading to a desired end. This way of living is compared to someone who is hasty. The hasty man is the one who prefers reacting to life - than planning it. The problem is that reacting to our circumstances can have us being led, not by our purpose and intent, but rather by whatever happens. Circumstances begin being our leader - rather than us seeking to control many of our circumstances by moving in a planned direction and way. When you live this way, the result is poverty. Just as the plans of the diligent man will surely lead to an abundance and advantage - the lack of planning and diligent effort doing something well - will eventually lead us to poverty. God wants us to live on purpose. He does not want us to spend our lives just reacting to whatever happens. We can do much to guide our lives according to His principles if we will just spend time learning them and directing our lives according to them. We will find that God's Word gives us a path - gives us counsel on how to live and how to plan to do things that God desires. This will ensure that we live a life God blesses - not just one that He tries to guide through whatever emergency happens next. To do this - with diligence and purpose . . . is wisdom indeed. Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold. 11 "For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her. Proverbs 8:10-11 (NASB)
How valuable is wisdom? You can't find any valuation for it on the New York Stock Exchange or in a bank. There is no mention of it in any of the mutual funds or among the currency exchange markets either. So just how valuable is wisdom? Well, according to what we read in Proverbs 8:10-11 wisdom is extremely valuable - worth far more than anyone in the financial world could imagine. First we learn that we should take a father's discipline and instruction rather than silver. "Musar" is the Hebrew word used here and it means the instruction and discipline that comes through a father's oral instruction - but it can also mean the way this comes through the rod as well. According to other places in Proverbs (i.e. 1:7, 8:33, 13:1, and 15:5) if we receive this we receive life and the favor of God. When we reject our father's instruction and discipline, we receive death, poverty, and shame. In many ways the Word of God says that the way we deal with our father's instruction and discipline will be mirrored in how we receive His in our lives. Hmmm, a southern way of saying this might be, "Take your daddy's talkin's and whippin's rather than money." Might sound kind of strange - but when I think of the value of a godly father's instruction - it is something that is invaluable. When I consider how much I could have learned from my dad - and how much pain and problems could have been prevented in my life if I did - I see where this is worth more than silver. The second statement her is to take knowledge rather than gold. This is the Hebrew word "daath" which means a knowledge gained from learning, discernment, and insight. The word speaks of a knowledge about how life works, as well as a knowledge of the divine. A way to put this where you can really grasp it is that the knowledge God commends is knowing Him and therefore knowing how to life live to its fullest. Now if we thought that a father's instruction and discipline was valuable - we will be blown away at the value of the knowledge God gives. It is worth more than the choicest gold. The gold described here is what is known as "fine gold" and it describes gold that is highly refined and extremely valuable. To know God and thus to know how to live this life is so incredibly valuable. Nothing is worth more to a human being because such wealth does not leave you when you die physically. To know God and how to live will last for all eternity. Next we are told that wisdom is better than jewels. The word used here usually refers to rubies and other highly valuable gems. The word also indicates that these are not raw jewels, but ones that have been cut and adorned with gold and other items to make them highly valuable. Imagine if you will the entire collection of England's crown jewels. These are not as valuable as wisdom. Wisdom again is simply seeing things the way that God sees them and thus knowing how to make decisions that please and honor Him. To close out this proverb we finally read that "all desireable things cannot compare with her." Take all the things of this world that men consider valuable. Pile them all up into one glorious wealthy heap - and all these things together cannot compare to wisdom. This world puts great pride in what they consider valuable. We even used to have a show were the lives of the rich and famous were put on display for all of us to covet. The problem is that all those things are not as desireable as knowing God. They don't add up to a life where we learn valuable and wise lessons from our earthly fathers - then follow their example by learning from God Himself the very things they have sought to teach us. What is the value of wisdom? It is of such a high value that they've not even invented charts that can accurately show the true value and the wealth that comes from it. That can only be measured in the joy and thrill of a myriad of lifetimes spent in the presence of God Himself in heaven. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest"— 11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man. Proverbs 6:9-11
Everyone needs sleep to be able to function in life. If you don't think this is true - try going without sleep for a few days. But there is a problem that comes with too much sleep. Too much sleep leads to laziness. That is the problem that is pointed out in these 3 verses of Proverbs. The question is put to the sluggard, "How long will you lie down?" The writer of Proverbs asks when he is going to rise from sleeping. Here is the problem - we have a man who is more interested in sleeping than in getting up and doing something. There is not an illness involved here. Neither is there a situation where someone has been up all night working or dealing with a child. This is simply a man who does not want to get out of bed. He doesn't want to do this because he is lazy. It is good to have a routine for yourself that includes a time when you are going to wake up in the morning. For the vast majority of us who have jobs - this problem is solved by our employer, who expects us to show up for work each day when he dictates. We have a choice to sleep in . . . it is just that this choice also involves not having a job, food, a place to live - you get what I'm saying. Because of this fact of life - we wake up and get out of bed. If you want to rear a child well - you will also teach your child to get up and get out of bed as well. For this reason it is good for your child to have a job - even if it is one that is around home. I remember hearing a story about a farmer who taught his children to wake up and get working on the farm. His sons were with him in the corn early one morning when a neighbor commented about this practice. His comment was that he sure was working his boys hard to raise corn. I love the comment the farmer gave in return. He said, "Sir, I'm not raising corn - I'm raising sons." What a wonderful statement. We teach our children to wake up and get going each day because we want to train them and teach them how to live in this world. It would be far wiser for them to learn this lesson young and maintain it throughout life - than to learn it only because necessity demands it when they get a job. When we leave it to necessity to educate them - they often learn the hard way. They also resent having their laziness interrupted with something so harsh as . . . reality. Sleep is not the real problem here. It is what comes with too much sleep. There is sleep and slumber that is perfectly fine. If we go to bed on time - we can get plenty of sleep every night. Our problem usually is discerning between a regular night in life - and one that is special. I know some will scoff at this - but it is also wise to teach children (and some adults as well) the difference between a school night - and a weekend or vacation night. For big people reading this - that can also be said this way. We need to discern the difference between a night when we have responsibilities the next day - and one where we do not. Our problem is that we not only sleep and slumber - but we also get the idea that we can fold our hands and not work. When we decide that we don't have to be diligent - we don't have to be hard working - we don't have to be our best for work and our employer each day - we are making a big mistake. The Scriptures teach us that God desires us to work hard - as if we are working for Him. When it is time to work - God wants us to work. This folding of the hands to rest is a picture of a man who values sleep and rest far more than he does hard work. This may sound fine to most - but God made it clear to us from the Law that for six days we are to labor and do our work. Work was not a part of the Fall of man into sin. Work is something God had Adam do in the garden. When we don't work there will be troubles and problems for us in life. First, we won't earn money with which to pay for food and other living items. Second, if we have a job and don't work hard - we will eventually lose that job. Finally, God calls us to work - and when we don't we often find ourselves doing things that we will regret later. Too much free time - plays right into the hands of the devil. I believe the old phrase is, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." No work and all sleep makes Johnny a sinful boy. When we don't work something is coming - and it would be wise if we were warned of what that is. Poverty is coming if you don't wake up and work hard. The warning here from Solomon is that poverty is coming to us. Two descriptions of how poverty is coming are given to us to warn us that this visitor is not welcome in our lives. First, poverty is coming in like a "vagabond." The word here means one who walks back and forth on a highway - and it referred to a highwayman. These were people who walked about on the highways and roads who desired to rob those passing on the road. They were thieves and robbers. Thus what Solomon is saying here is that poverty is going to come upon you like a thief hiding near the road. He will rise up suddenly and attack. Usually this comes without a lot of warning. That is the way it is for the sluggard who loves his sleep. He thinks everything is fine - and then suddenly poverty hits him without him being ready for it. The second picture Solomon uses here to describe how poverty is coming is that of an "armed man." What is fascinating about this word is that it actually refers to a man with a shield, and the same word is used of the protective scales of a crocodile. Most commentators figure that this refers to an armed man with shield and with a sword. This one comes upon you for the purpose of taking what you have. I take a different tack on this word. I think it refers to how hard it is to get out of poverty - especially a poverty caused by laziness, lack of discipline, and being a sluggard. You can try to fight a man with a shield - but it is difficult. He is going to be able to ward off all your attempts to harm him. He will prevail more than once - so you have to be wise and fight hard to vanquish him. When a man is lazy and in poverty - he is hit with the proverbial double-whammy. He not only is poor, he is poor and unwilling to work hard to get out of poverty. All of the stories I've heard about those overcoming poverty had to do with those who worked hard to do so. I can't ever remember one where the man or woman slept in every day and barely worked when they did apply themselves. Laziness is a difficult thing to overcome. Someone who loves their sleep does not train easily. They want to relax and NOT work. Thus they face a very daunting future. They don't want to work - but they do want to eat. They don't want to apply themselves - but they do want the stuff that comes from applying yourself. Unfortunately, our government often gives no incentive to get out of this state as they offer welfare programs and far more incentive NOT to work than TO work. Welfare to those who are just lazy is not a help - it hurts them and society as well. Those truly in need can and should be helped by society - but we've gone well beyond that in our nation. We've subsidized far too much laziness and lack of discipline. That is why our growing socialism, and the laziness it encourages by punishing the successful and rewarding those who stick their hand out to the government, is going to receive a visit from these verses one day. One day even nations will be visited by the highwayman and the man with the shield. Unless we encourage work - hard work - and things like industry and frugality and discipline - we will continue to destroy the work ethic in our country. When that work is completed, we will have put the finishing touches on a sleep-loving, work-hating society. Oh, may God give us wisdom to wake up, work hard, make wise financial choices, and honor Him in it all. May He have mercy on our country and help us to see that laziness, self-indulgence, and the thought that our government owes us a living are not helping us - these things are destroying us. |
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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