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Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
The excellent wife is a doer, which we have seen throughout this entire portrait. But we learn in verse 26 that she is also a teacher - and one whose words are a blessing to all those who hear them. Let's take a look at the two pictures that are painted for us, describing this aspect of the excellent wife. First we see that she speaks wisdom. The picture that is painted for us is a woman who when she sees the need of breaking silence with her mouth - speaks and wisdom pours from her. The phrase "opens her mouth," is a Hebraism meaning what is under her tongue or ready to proceed from her mouth. It has the idea that as soon as her mouth opens to speak - wisdom pours forth from it. The Jewish scholars believed that this woman's heart was so filled with this wisdom from God that the moment she opened her mouth it naturally flowed from it. This is the kind of woman you want to be around when she did speak. She was the female embodiment of E.F. Hutton - who when she speaks - you should listen! The second thing we learn about her is that "the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." There are two ways of reading this - and honestly I think either is correct. The first way would be to say that she teaches of kindness to others. The word for kindness here is the Hebrew word "chesed." This word is the one that is closest to the New Testament concept of agape love that we have in the Old Testament. The word meant both goodness and kindness - and referred to God's covenant love. She taught of God's great covenant love. She taught of a God who loved His people, showing them His kindness and His goodness to them. But the second way of seeing this is that she was loving as she taught. The reason I feel that either is applicable is that they compliment each other so well. One who teaches of God's love would, of course, be one who showed it as well even as she taught. The excellent wife is not just a worker - but a lover - and one who loves as God Himself does. She speaks wisdom and teaches of love. These are two wonderful aspects of God that every family member and especially the children need to learn. That is why the excellent wife is so ready to speak of such things whenever she opens her mouth. She is a source of blessing therefore not only in all that she does for this family - but also in all she speaks and teaches as well.
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Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That is a quote from my dearest mother - and from mothers for generations. My mom was not wanting me to refrain from saying the truth if it was hard - but she was wanting me to learn the principle behind today's proverb of the day. That proverb tells us the wonderful value of speaking pleasant words to others. The word for "pleasant" here is the Hebrew word, "noam." This word means something beautiful, pleasant, and delightful. The word was used to speak of things that were sen or beheld that were of this nature. The word is used in Psalm 27:4 of the splendor of the Lord. It means to say something that creates delight in someone - yet the words do this because they are wise words as well. The word is also used figuratively of a shepherd's staff and the comfort that is brings to the sheep as it guides them in a good way. When we speak these pleasant words, we are speaking of God's wisdom - but speaking it in a way that befits the term "honeycomb." We remember a former proverb that told us that more flies are caught with honey than with vinegar. The idea here is that a wise man speaks his words of wisdom - but does so remembering that a harsh word stirs up anger - but soft words can break a bone. Therefore he tries as often as possible to speak pleasant words as he offers the wisdom of God to others. We read here that these words are like a honeycomb. This presents a wonderful picture of nature for us - that points to the value of these pleasant words. A honeycomb is a wonderful thing in the physical world. It is the place where bees store their honey when they work gathering nectar from flowers around them. They honeycomb was considered the nectar of the gods by the early Greeks because of all the healing properties that they found in it. First it is very healing to skin - even fuctioning as a wonderful antiseptic for skin wounds. It is also healing in that it has been found to have a tremendous amount of anti-oxidents within it. There is also an aspect of honey's usefulness that applies to allergies. In the early days of history people would chew on the honeycomb to help relieve severe allergies. Allergists today say that if we will get local honeycomb and chew on it one to two weeks prior to spring, our sinus and eye allergies would be greatly reduced. The blessing here is to the soul and the bones of the body. The bones are the source of our blood supply - therefore were seen as the very life-force of the body. Therefore what we are told here is that we become such a blessing to others when we speak gracious and pleasant words to others. Such words will be a soul-healing thing to those who hear them. Just as honeycomb is healthy for our bodies - so beautiful words are to our souls. Think with me for a moment or two of the majority of words that we hear in our world today. We are currently in an election cycle in our country. We cringe as we realize that once again we are going to be bombarded with the most negative statements made by each candidate about their opponents. The air is heavy with the negativity and the stench of character assassination. This seems to spill over into our world as just about everyone gets caught up - not in pleasant and beautiful words - but in the dark, evil, damaging words of the campaigns. It has gotten to where the two sides are so hateful to each other that there is no middle ground - or ways that we can even speak of the other side without incurring the wrath of someone thinking that we are selling out. Let me encourage you in the midst of this time to do something to counter our culture. Do you very best to speak as many "pleasant" words as possible to one another. Take the time to notice something good about as many situations and circumstances as possible. Make it your goal to look for the pleasant every single day and speak of it glowingly. Do your utmost to find as much to say about the goodness and grace of God as possible. This way we can be a healing influence in a society that desperately needs a little good news that actually nourishes our souls! The heart of the wise instructs his mouth And adds persuasiveness to his lips. Proverbs 16:23
One of the maladies that I face in my life is that I engage my mouth too often without fully engaging my mind as to what I am going to say. That particular malady results in another and that is that I find my foot often lodged in my mouth shortly after the first malady manifests itself. Needless to say today's proverb was eye-opening to say the least. I learned that what truly needs to be engaged before I speak is my heart - which is to be what instructs my mouth before it engages in saying what "ought" to be said. The heart of a wise man instructs his mouth what to say. Some might say that if this were the case all we would say is, "thump, thump" in a rythmic fashion. (Oops, there I go again!) But the Hebrew concept of the heart is a wondeful one. The heart refers to the immaterial inner self - or what the Holy Spirit would refer to as man's spirit. This is considered by the Hebrew mind to be our inner nature - the workings of our mind as it is instructed by the Holy Spirit using as His primary text, the Word of God. Thus the mouth is instructed by none other than the Holy Spirit Himself - who takes the Word and uses it to instruct us, through our spirit, so that our mind is taught. This working then brings to our mind things that should be filtered out - or in some cases filtered in. Scripture, for example, instructs us in Colossians 4:6, "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." What a great instruction for our mouths. Therefore, as the Spirit does this He asks us, "Hey Bubba (sorry, I live in Arkansas and this is pretty effective here), is what you are going to say gracious? Does it have a little 'salt of the gospel' in it - so that it will make whoever is hearing you thirsty for God - and the gospel?" Something else the Spirit of God might ask is this, "Yo Bubbba, did you think about what this person truly and lovingly NEEDS - or - are you just spouting off what you want to say to them?" These are things that will truly alter how you speak - because in all honesty - not even our words belong to us. We were bought with a price - therefore we are to glorify God with our bodies - which, by the way, includes our mouths! Here is another way our mouth can be instructed by the wisdom of the Spirit of God. He may choose to remind us of Ephesians 4:29 which says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." So this time the Spirit of God may chime in with something like this. "Dude (this is when I am in California), is what you are going to say wholesome, or does it smell like rotten fruit or nasty-smelling fish! Are you going to build up your friend - or just confirm him in the same worldly ways that his other friends speak? Like, you totally need to think about what he NEEDS right now! Have you even heard what HE'S been saying at a heart level in this conversation and others? Don't be a total bogart man - give him some grace - some love brother - some real helpful, encouraging, gospel-smelling stuff!" Now, apart from the regionalization of all this in my language - there are a few VERY important things we can learn from just these two examples. We learn how the Scriptures would be used by the Holy Spirit to instruct our mouths. First, note that in both examples the Lord wants to instruct us to think of others as we open our mouths. Second, note as well in both examples that the Lord wants us to have our words abound with grace as we speak. Lastly, there is either stated or implied that our words are to be used to build others up - not tear them down. You can take these three things to the verbal-bank! We ought to write them on the inside of our mouths, so to speak, so that we are reminded that any word that proceeds out of them should be - 1) others-minded, 2) filled with grace and the gospel, and 3) encouraging! Can you imagine the difference that would make in a matter of days in the things we say!? The rest of today's proverb reminds us that when we do this - our hearts will help us to have additional "persuasiveness" added to everything we say. I have known people like this in my life - and they are amazing people. They are the E.F. Hutton's of the spiritual world - and in many ways the world in general. When they speak - people listen! The amazing thing is that this is not because they have "earth-shaking" things to say every time they open their mouths. It is more because you will be blessed and uplifted whenever they speak! You want to hear what they say - because it nourishes your very soul to hear it. Precious ones . . . let us not be people whose mouths are instructed by our culture - or by our own selfish motives - or by the evil one who would love to use our mouths for his own destructive purposes. Let us be people of the grace-filled, love-overflowing, life-encouraging, Spirit-instructed mouth! Let us embrace hearing what our hearts have to say about what words we should use. And as we listen to this soul-nourishing instruction for our mouths - may we submit our hearts to be ruled and governed by the Holy Spirit of God. May His tutelage dominate our conversations, our statements, and our answers so that others may be blessed - made thirsty for the God who speaks through us - and hungry for the same gospel grace that has changed our hearts, which is the very reason that our conversation is so different! The wise in heart will be called understanding, And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Proverbs 16:21
How can we increase our influence and persuasiveness with people? That is the question that Solomon answers today in our proverb. It has to do with being wise in our hearts before we decide to open our mouths. It also involves us learning to discern what do say in different situations in life - then saying it competently. The wise in heart will be called understanding. Wisdom enters our hearts when we turn to the Lord as our primary source for learning and understanding our world around us. Proverbs chapter 2 reminds us that as we seek God for His wisdom and open our hearts to what He desires to teach us, "Wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you." (Proverbs 2:10-11) When we have wisdom enter our hearts - we will be able to distinguish between things that honor and please God, and things that are worldly and please our flesh. When we have this ability the Spirit of God will teach and train us in the way of wisdom. The passage here says that we will gain a reputation over time - of being a discerning person. That is what the word "understanding" means here. It means to be someone who due to wisdom - can now understand situations and circumstances that cannot ordinarily be understood from human wisdom alone. As this discernment increases and begins to catch the attention of others, There will also be multiple opportunities to speak that wisdom to benefit those around us. But Solomon offers us a little instruction. If we will use pleasant and sweet speech when speaking that wisdom to others - we will have our persuasive abilities increased. A harsh word or a mean-spirited one will stop communication before we can ever communicate wisdom. That is why we are warned to increase our persuasiveness by speaking with kindness. We are to speak the truth - but speak it in love. If we do not - often we will be tuned out and our opportunity to influence people for the Lord will be stopped. We need to be men and women both of wisdom and of gracious communication of it. That will allow us to have the maximum amount of persuasiveness as we share the truth. Too often people want to share truth - but with too harsh an edge. Love people and speak the truth to them. As you do you will gain a repuatation for speaking sound and good things in your counsel. You also will have that counsel regarded - and appreciated by many who will call you a person of great discernment. Will they not go astray who devise evil? But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good. Proverbs 14:22
Today's proverb has to do with the payoff for both evil and good. There is a pay day for living in a way that is morally wrong. God uses quite an interesting picture of the one who is planning and devising evil. The word used here is "haras" which means to plow or to till the soil. The kind of plowing that is being done is plowing and planting evil. The evil is both moral and ethical in its reach. The fool spends his time plowing this way - and planting a very morally perverse crop into the ground of his life. The proverb tells us that the ones who live this way - will err. They will wander about and go astray. They will be intoxicated with their sin and as a result wander off not really realizing the danger of their actions. In the end they go the wrong way and wander into a moral wasteland. Unfortunately I've watched this kind of moral wandering many times. They begin to plow the fields of their life with questionable morals and ethics. As they do this they speak of their freedom to do what they want - and usually disparage the Word of God for its straight-laced moral views. But in the end they wind up wanding off into things they did not intend to do. They only realize this when they've gone much father than they expected - or when something devastating happens to them because of their moral blindness. It is a sad thing to watch - because as those counselled by Scripture, we see where they are going. That is why this is voiced to us in a rhetorical way. The rhetorical question is that they are going to wander and err who plan and plow evil in their lifestyle. To counter this erring way, we are also given a strong statement about what awaits those who plow what is good in their lives. This good (Hebrew word "tobah") is something that is well-pleasing, fruitful, proper, and morally correct. Of course all these things are referring to how God's Word affirms the moral direction that they are taking. What is promised to those plowing in this way is mercy and truth. Let's take a closer look at these two words. Kindness is the Hebrew word "chesed." That word means to receive mercy and lovingkindness. The word is used of God's love constantly in the Old Testament. It is the closest kin to the Greek word agape in the New Testatment. It refers to God's covenant love with His people. When we choose to plow in a way that is morally in agreement with God's Word, God loves us - and will shower us with His grace, mercy, faithfulness, and goodness. That is what awaits right moral choices. The second word is "truth" which is the Hebrew word "emet." It refers to faithfulness - and is often combined with ideas like God's righteousness and peace. When we plow our lives with godliness and moral rectitiude, there will be a harvest of peace and righteousness that will come to us. Rather than the wandering destructive ways that come to those who plow evil, there is a blessing that showers on those who seek a crop of good things. That blessing is a righteous life - a peaceful existance where we know where we are going. There will be the smile of God and the light of His presence upon this person's path. He sows to godliness and reaps an abundance of joy, light, and life as a result. When I consider this proverb I cannot but come away from it without remembering the promise of God that we will reap what we sow. To the one who is plowing and sowing evil this comes as a warning that his ways are not good. He will eventually be led to wander and even be destroyed by his ungodly moral choices. To the one plowing and sowing good there is the confident expectation that a good crop will grow - yielding 30, 60, and 100 fold fruit to the glory of God - and to his own blessing and welfare. So the question to ask is simply this, "How are you plowing the fields of your life and future?" He who despises his neighbor sins, But happy is he who is gracious to the poor. Proverbs 14:21
We continue to be counselled here on our attitude and actions toward the poor. God is truly concerned that we are gracious to the poor, for He Himself was gracious to us when we were poorer than any level of poverty could ever reach. He granted us His very riches in Christ through the gospel - therefore we too should respond with grace and with mercy to those who have little or nothing around us. This proverb speaks of those who "despise" their neighbor. The one who despises his neighbor looks at his poverty and hates it. He sees no need for mercy or for kindness. He will most likely point out all the reasons why this one is in poverty - and say that is the reason why he should not do anything for the poor. While it is true that we need to give to the poor in a way that does not enable them to continue in sin, there is a need for them to receive genuine love and mercy from those who can help them. Some despise their poor neighbor because their poverty calls for generosity - and that is hard to have when one is in bondage to a worldview where they are all that matters. They want much for themselves and therefore to give to another is an unwanted trouble. Therefore they despise the poor - and refuse to be gracious and give to their neighbor in need. We are told that such an attitude is sinful. It misses the mark that God has made for us to hit. It is truly important to see the nature and the actions of God to see why this is such a sinful, wicked attitude. When we refuse to give, we are very much unlike God. He gives to the poor and to the unfortunate. As was said at the beginning of this post, God gave His Son for the poorest of all creatures - sinful man. That should help us understand His basic nature - that He is gracious and giving. We, therefore, should be gracious and giving as well. To be and to do anything else is just sinful. He who withholds grain, the people will curse him, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. Proverbs 11:26
Today's proverb is fascinating to me because it addresses an abuse that often happens in the area of economics. This abuse, though a proven way to make money, results in the inflation of prices for food. What has happened over the course of economic history is that when this is done - and it reaches a critical level in food prices - it leads to riots and in some cases the overthrow of a government. Our proverb speaks of one who has much grain. Here is a man who has worked hard and labored to produce a crop on his farm. As a result he has a large amount of grain. He can choose to withhold grain from the people and not sell it. By doing this he will drive the price of grain up due to a scarcity of grain in the market place. This will make him very wealthy, but in time it will backfire on him. The people, who need grain, will begin to curse him because his actions are preventing them from eating - or is making it to where being able to provide food is becoming very expensive. The cost is not coming due to natural reasons such as a flood or drought or crop failure. The added cost is coming due to a man's greed. But for the man who sells his grain there will be a blessing - not just a financial one - but one from God Himself. This proverb allows us to consider the whole area of how Biblical authority addresses economic theory. In our day it is considered a wise business move to hold on to goods until they wind up in short supply. This allows the person who has them to artificially inflate the price of what they sell so that they can make huge profits from it. Such actions eventually become accepted business practices on larger levels so that embargos are used by nations to boost the price of their domestic products. In time groups of businesses form consortiums that try to corner an entire market so that they can set the price wherever they want. The government then steps in a tries to enforce what they call "social justice." They impose restrictions on businesses so that things will be fair. The problem is that in time the government oversteps their bounds and corruption within the government (due to the sin nature in all of us) begins to crystalize. It is then that officials learn how to use their power to corner their own political markets and do the very thing they initially were trying to prevent in the public sector. The problem throughout all this is that the poor are hurt the most by such practices. Some think wrongly that the end of all labor is to make money. But Scripture militates against that philosophy. God desires us to work hard and be diligent to make a profit - but - He also desires for us to be compassionate in the process. This sets up a very interesting tension in life and in the economic theory that governs Bible-believing Christians. At one end is the philosophy of pure Capitalism. This philosophy functions under the idea that life is about the profit motive at all times. But God warns against a "love of money" which He says is a root of all sorts of evil. At the other end is Socialism and Communism. This philosophy functions under the assumption that a government should rule over all land and production efforts. Their goal is then to take all profits and distribute them equally to all the people. Both of these extremes will fail. Pure Capitalism will fail because greed will so rule men's hearts that they will lack compassion for others - and especially for the poor. In time their greed will consume them with a desire for more and more profit - and an insatiable desire for more and more wealth. In the process they will shut their hearts to the plight of the poor. This will lead to greater levels of abuse of the poorest - who will then curse those who have the economic power - and will ultimately lead to revolution and the overthrow of those who have the wealth and power in society. Communism and Socialism will fail because of greed as well. Though such economic philosophies sound wonderful at the outset, they fail because of several factors. First, there is no man who is not fallen. When given the power to confiscate the wealth of a society, they will NOT distribute it equally. They will eventually treat themselves well - and let the rest of society live on the rest. This has happened in every situation when such an economic system prevails. Their goals may sound lofty, but their practices wind up eerily similar to the captialist. Second, there is no motive in this system to work. Actually there is a motive - to do what you do for the good of all others in the collective society. But this equates good as distributing things equally among all in the society. This will not work in a fallen world because over time some will sinfully decide that if they don't work hard - or at all - they will still get an equal part of the collective pie. Others who intially work hard - will be greatly discouraged that it is their hard work that is allowing the lazy, the undisciplined, and the slothful to live just as they do. In time there will be an equality - but it will be an equality of poverty and want - because no one will be motivated to work to the best of their ability. No matter how hard they work - they only get the same part of the collective's goods. These will never be enough for collective prosperity because sinfulness will move many to barely work at all - or at a level where they are forced to work. The system God will bless is one that encourages and rewards hard work and industriousness. This is captialism - but there must be a restraint in this system as well, if it is to succeed. This is what I call "Compassionate Captialism." It is a system where the profit motive and self-interest is encouraged. But it is also a system that values compassion and kindness. Where a profit and self-interest motive might move a man to withhold grain so he can make an obscene profit - he does not do it. He is moved by the desire to serve those who buy his grain. Understanding this he chooses to sell his grain - not just for a profit - but for a profit that also allows those who are poor to be able to afford to feed their families. In the end, this man is blessed with profit - and also is blessed with the favor of God for acting with kindness and compassion toward those who can easily be taken advantage of by the system. He chooses a wise profit level rather than one driven by greed alone. This promotes peace and the welfare of all those in the market. It is fascinating to see the wisdom of God address all areas of life. One would not readily think that the Word of God would be a good place to learn economic principles. Yet when we read and mediatate on God's Word - immeasurable benefit is gained from it. Oh, that we would not divorce academic pursuit from the queen of the sciences - theology. May God gives us wisdom to see that His perspective is best in all academic and lifestyle pusuits. Then we can be blessed - not just a religious context - but in all of life. The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 11:25 God wants His people to be like Him - and that requires that we take a serious look at what it means to be generous. The Lord Himself is extremely generous toward mankind. When you consider that we have sinned against Him, rebelled against His sovereignty and authority, and even gone so far as to deny His existance while blaspheming Him - you begin to grasp why any response other than total judgment is marvelously generous. Yet God has gone far above just showing us a little mercy. He has allowed His justice to fall upon His Son, the Lord Jesus, having Him bear the payment for our forgiveness. Therefore we should honestly consider God's generosity as being infinite. God says that the generous man will be prosperous. The literal Hebrew here says, "The soul of blessing will be made fat." The idea here is that a person wants to bless others. This men or woman is generous in the very core of their being. Their normal response is to be kind and generous to others. God tells us that this kind of person will be prosperous. Some in the "name-it, claim it" movement states that this means they will have lots of money. But, I've seen over the years people who would not be in any way described as rich - be very generous. They are this way not just with money - but with their time. I've also known these people to be some of the most blessed people in my life. Thus, in defining prosperity, we need to define it not just as monetary prosperity, but also as prosperity of soul as well. The last aspect of this proverb says that the one who waters others, will himself be watered. This is an allusion to the agricultural world. When someone waters a plant, he is providing much needed moisture to the plant for its health and welfare. The picture here is not of a plant being watered, but of a person being blessed. When we are generous with our time and our ministry to others, we are helping them grow spiritually. When we do this, God lets us know that we ourselves will be aided in our spiritual growth. The way this works is truly amazing - because so often our fallen nature wants everyone to "water us" rather than to pour into others. At the risk of being prideful, I will use an example from my own life. There have been many days that I have woken up and did not want to do anything. I was filled with thoughts of myself - and all I wanted was to do my own thing - or to just sit and do nothing. Often on these days I feel pretty depressed and useless. But on several of them God began to speak to my heart, encouraging me to get up and actively go out somewhere to bless someone else who needed it. What is funny is that at first when I chose to obey God in this, I was not terribly excited about the whole thing. Usually I did it by accessing what seemed to be the last ounce of strength I could muster (really this was not the case - I just get a kind of dramatic when I am a selfish putz). What is truly astounding though is how I was watered as I went to bless someone else. Eventually the depression would begin to lift - and my attitude would alter radically. By the end of the day I would notice that I had come full circle, being filled with joy over God's goodness in it all. I remember a good friend talking about a friend of his who had a day like this. He chose to get up and go bless someone else. The story concludes with this man stating that it was because this brother obeyed God that he himself was saved. The man he went to bless - was him. He shared the gospel with my friend - and later that evening, at a revival service he invited him to attend, he gave his life to Christ. Remember this proverb the next time you get into a spiritual and emotional funk. Go do something that will bless others. Choose to be generous - to go out and water someone whose spiritual life is dry and barren. Go out and bless someone else who could never repay you for what you are about to do. When you do this - you will soon learn the truth of this passage. You will be prosperous spiritually - and - you will find yourself being watered by God Himself for your generosity - and by your willingness to adopt His character as your own. Do not devise harm against your neighbor, While he lives securely beside you. Do not contend with a man without cause, If he has done you no harm. Proverbs 3:29-30
How are we to treat our neighbor? Here again we have a couple of verses in Proverbs that help us know how to love our neighbor as ourselves. This has to do with how we treat neighbors who are living next to us, around us - and who pose no threat to our lives. The reason for this instruction is to make sure that we truly do love our neighbor and treat them as we would have them treat us. When someone takes advantage of their neighbor - when that neighbor has done nothing to arouse suspicion or cause harm - there is a total breakdown of trust in a society. There should be a general safety that exists between neighbors that should make all of us not just feel safe - but actually be safe. When that general sense of a society governed by the golden rule is gone - that society suffers greatly. We are told not to devise harm against our neighbor who lives securely along with us in our society. There should not be any kind of ill will toward our neighbor unless they have done us harm. Even then we should embrace forgiveness rather than bitterness in our dealings with one another. In commenting on this verse J. Vernon McGee had this great statement, "In relationship to your neighbor, don't do things that would be to your advantage and his disadvantage. And don't try to keep up with the Jones by undermining the Joneses." Here is the crux of the wisdom that God is offering to us. When we truly love one another - and care for each other - we will not take advantage of one another nor seek to harm each other. This is the very core of how societies maintain a sense of well-being amongst the general population. The best government in any society is self-government. No human government can offer a sure protection to everyone in its borders. That would require a police force of millions - and even then you would have to answer tne question of whether you could trust the police. What is best for any society is self-government according to the Word of God. This is when the individual takes the responsiblity to govern their own heart according to a moral standard established by God. When this happens there is no need for a heavy police presence - because each person in the society is watching themselves first - to be sure that they are good citizens. When a society degenerates - it always begins with a degeneration of its view of God and practice of His principles on a personal level. To the extent that we are no longer governed by ourselves and God's Word and Spirit - to that extent society will have to add rules and enforcement officers to try and rein in the wickedness of the human heart. As the society continues to reject God and His ways, that society will continue to degenerate in how they treat one another. Laws will eventually be downgraded to allow more and more ungodliness in the society - with the end being that good is called evil and evil is called good. With each devaluation of God's Law not only will the morals of that society slide, but the sense of safety and well-being will slide along with it. When we first read these two verses they seemed almost too simplistic for us. Yet as we look at the true ramifications of a society with a high level of self-government versus one that has all but abandoned this concept, we suddenly realize the great wisdom of God in what is said here. This is how to have a peaceful, secure world. To the extent that we embrace this model - we will have the peace and sense of safety it will provide. But to the extend that we reject this - to that extent our society will lack safety, will lack peace, but worst of all it will lack among its people the nearness and blessing of God. A man's gift makes room for him And brings him before great men. Proverbs 18:16
When one appears before great men, there is a wonderful Asian practice of coming with a gift. This can be construed as a bribe to some - but that is not how those in Asian culture view it. They view it as wise and right to bring a gift with you when you come to see someone - and - the greater the person, the more important the gift. Over the years I have had the privilege and honor to pastor several Chinese and Japanese Christians. One thing I have seen in their actions is that they will bring me a gift when they come to see me. For me this is a precious thing - and it is also humbling. Their gifts are never something casual or thoughtless. They always take the time to consider what I might enjoy - and they delight in giving it. This proverb is trying to get us to see the value in being generous with others. We will never be the poorer for genuinely giving gifts of love and respect to others. We will also benefit from seeing the value of letting those in important positions know that we both respect them and value what they can contribute to our lives. This is why we read that this gift will both make room for us and bring us before great men. An example of this was how the Queen of Sheba came before Solomon. She sought an audience with the king. When she came she brought a huge gift - involving spices, a special type of wood, and other very valuable items. She came with these things to receive Solomon's wisdom - and to see this great king of which she had heard. What is interesting is the practice of the noble men and women who receive such people who come with thoughtful gifts. Solomon first answered all her questions - leaving her breathless as she heard him and saw his court. But we read at the close of the passage that she left receiving more than she had given. The kings and rulers of the East were given to their liberality in response to the graciousness of others. The Queen of Sheba left with more than she gave. This is a type as well for us of how we come before God. We may come giving liberally - but we leave far wealthier than we came. We receive the graciousness of our Lord and King - and the level of blessing which He can grant. That, dear friends is amazing - but often that kind of display is reserved for those who first show respect, honor, and an open hand in how they give to the Lord of all. May our level of giving never hinder us from blessing, but release it gloriously into our lives. |
 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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