Tag: the curse
Don’t be a lazy mocker!
Scripture reading for July 9th: Proverbs 18-21
When we lived in Washington State near Olympia for six years, we experienced slugs for the first time. After a rain the slugs came out. They left slimy trails and if you picked them up, you felt slimy too! They did not move very fast but inched along like a snail. I believe that the sluggard in the Bible is named after them!
The Bible talks more about the sin of laziness than that of drunkenness. Proverbs 19:15 says that the shiftless man who goes hungry! We are warned in Proverbs 20:13 about loving sleep. The lazy man is called a “sluggard” in Proverbs 19:24 and he is so lazy that he cannot feed himself! The sluggard is always craving but never satisfied because he refuses to work! In Proverbs 24:30-34 the field of a sluggard is in focus. Thorns, representing the curse of Adam, are growing everywhere. The ground is covered with weeds and the protective wall is in ruin. The lesson is that laziness and too much sleeping leads to poverty.
A mocker is someone who makes fun of God’s Word and ways, preferring to do things his own way. Mockers deserve flogging because they lead others astray. (Proverbs 19:25, 29) Mockers are often involved in drinking and mock when they are drunk with wine or beer. (Proverbs 20:1) Proverbs 21:24 names the proud and arrogant man “mocker”. Mockers are fools because they lack discernment and fail to value God or His Word! God’s Word says to drive out the mocker to remove strife, quarrels and insults! (Proverbs 22:1)
Proverbs 20:3 states that it is a man’s honor to avoid strife and quarreling. Proverbs 20:19 warns against gossip and meddling as a source of trouble. Guarding your mouth and tongue will keep you from calamity! (Proverbs 21:23) We are to seldom set our foot in our neighbor’s house because with too much of us, he will end up hating us! (Proverbs 25:17) If you want to really get into trouble, meddle in a quarrel that is not your own! It will be like taking a dog by it’s ears! (Proverbs 26:17)
Sluggards, mockers and meddlers are trouble! Evaluate your own life and take appropriate action before it’s too late! Poverty, beatings, and a Doberman Pincer by the ears should be warning enough!