He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 13:20 Who comprises your group of companions will have everything to do with the level of blessing you will experience in your future. Today's proverb has to do with our friendships and also our mentors. If you have the wrong mentors and the wrong friends, you are going to have a very difficult future. God tells us here that the man who walks with wise men will be wise. That sounds like it is not a difficult statement to grasp and to follow. I will agree that it is not difficult to understand - but when it comes to how hard it is to follow - that is a different story altogether. First, we need to be schooled in how to know a wise man from a foolish one. A wise man is often shunned because he may not be as "fun" as the fool. It is not that wisdom inherently is dull - but it is that wisdom follows God's way - even when doing so means you will not be the life of the party. The wise man seeks to walk and to speak according to God's Word. Sometimes this means that he will speak pleasant things - and at others - rebuke. But you can know one thing - walking with him will make you wise as well. Remember that early in Proverbs we were told that the beginning of wisdom is, "Get wisdom!" That means be where wise people can influence and speak into your life. There is another way to walk with the wise - even if they are dead. That way is by reading books that they have written. I can still walk with men like Andrew Murry, John Calvin, Watchman Nee, A. B. Simpson, George Mueller, Charles Spurgeon, and A. W. Tozer. I can do so by reading their writings. By doing this I can fill my mind with their thoughts and their teachings. As I walk with these dead men in their books - I can become wise with the wisdom God gave them. One of the best friends of a man of God is the books which bring to life men who have gone on to be with the Lord. By a contrary choice, those who are companions of fools will suffer harm. You cannot stay long with a fool without his foolishness rubbing off on you. Bad company corrupts good character - and that is never more true than with those who become companions of fools. We would be wise to avoid them altogether. Something that is similar to the knowing of wise men through their books - is the influence of fools through their writings and productions. Consider all the influence a movie or a television show has on people. We will actually lay down good money for a fool to influence us for 2 hours when we go to watch movies. Their message often contains philosophies that are diametrically opposed to our own - yet we not only watch them - but encourage others to do so as well. We hear their words - and we see their actions - which often include sexual immorality, profanity, murder, rebellion, and a godless world where one can sit for 2 hours and only hear of God in their blasphemy of his name. Our entire society has been the companion of the fools in Hollywood through movies and television - and consider the damage and harm we have suffered as a result. The worldview of the silver screen in one generation will be the worldview of the populace in the next - if not sooner. Walk with the wise. It is a choice that we will never regret. Get to know older men and women who have walked with God for years. Listen to their wisdom and be wise. Take the time to sit with someone older and wiser - for it will be of immense benefit to you. Such choices will insure that we become wise as we walk with the wise.
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Desire realized is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil. Proverbs 13:19
One of the key things that will lead to a happy life is when we realize godly desires in our lives. Today's proverb gives us some very wonderful counsel when it comes to realizing the desires that will truly bless us. Let's take a look at this - because it truly is a very important principle when it comes to living a contented, happy life. Desire realized is sweet to the soul. This easily could be misinterpreted to mean that we are to run after whatever desire rises within our hearts. We know this is not true because we know that our struggle to be godly and to please God has much to do with putting to death the desires that rise out of our flesh - and surrendering ourselves to those which are giving to us by the Holy Spirit. Also the second half of our proverb warns against the man who will not turn away from evil. Therefore we know that these "desires" have boundaries set for them to keep them from being dominated by our flesh. If all we ever do is dream - and those dreams are not realized in any kind of fulfillment, we will be a miserable soul indeed. God made us so that we have the function of desire - and also that we would dream of things far beyond ourselves. But only a lazy man will dream alone without any kind of fulfillment of those dreams that make his heart burn within him. It is given to us to dream and desire so that we will be moved to action to see those desires fulfilled. Such desires motivate us to DO something. Often the doing is the undoing of many desires and dreams. We are unable or often unwilling to put the effort and the steadfastness into our dreams to see them become reality. Oh, but what sweetness is ours when that desire is realized. Let me illustrate in a couple of examples. Ever mow your lawn? I dread the start of mowing my lawn. If there was not the reward of a freshly mowed and manicured lawn at the end of that process, I might never address the grass that grows around my house. But when I am finished, I love to stand and look at a lawn that looks good. There is something very sweet about that particular desire realized that seriously motivates me to take up that task. As a pastor I am constantly starting up various projects that we do as a church. There is the desire to see something done that starts the process. Then there is the nuts and bolts work of doing that particular task. Often the details and the work is where we get bogged down in this process. But as we apply ourselves as a fellowship, we are blessed with the desire realized in the end, which is sweet to all those who have given themselves to the task. This is life - and those who follow these paths from the desire stage to the accomplishment at the end know the sweetness of which Solomon speaks. The second half of our proverb tells us that it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil. Most projects that are undertaken are for good purposes and plans. The fool though knows nothing of this kind of lifestyle. He thinks too highly of his comfort to actually work toward a goal. The fool is both lazy and undisciplined. For him to realize a desire of his would require him to get up off of his duff and do something. He finds such things an abomination. He would much rather do his own thing - which is usually nothing. The other fact about the fool is that he loves his evil too much to allow God to guide his desires into something positive and helpful. The vast majority of his desires are in a close orbit around himself. Therefore he despises the rebuke and leading of God to break out of a self-centered orbit to explore the vast recesses of what true selflessness could accomplish. Unless he get some sort of selfish pleasure that immediately placates his own love of self - he is not interested. Therefore much of his life is spent either in a short-term immediate pleasure that leaves him empty later - or in wanting things he in no way will be disciplined enough to actually do. Misery follows the fool wherever he goes. His life is spent wanting much for himself - but gathering realitvely little. The wise man's journey is much different thnough. He spends his life seeking the heart of Another. In seeking the heart of God he finds himself drawn into activities and dreams that both bless others as well as glorifies the One Who placed the ideas and dreams into his heart in the first place. He has the sweetness of desire realized because the One Who put them into his heart also empowers him to see them accomplished. Ah what blessedness lies in that wise path that first receives from and then relies upon God to bring about those things which glorify His great name as well as bless the heart of man. Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline, But he who regards reproof will be honored. Proverbs 13:18
Everyone would like to see their hopes and dreams realized. One of these dreams is that of earning a fortune. The conventional wisdom of this world says that if you work hard and apply yourself these things can be yours. But the Word of God counsels us a little differently. There is more to success than just making a lot of money because you work hard. Far too many men who stepped on the road to their riches - wound up unable to achieve them because they would not listen to counsel and accept discipline. They would not take wise advice - and as a result were not honored in the end. The Word of God ties the whole idea of wealth and blessing to something more than hard work. The Bible teaches us to work hard and apply ourselves in what we do. That is why we hear about the "protestant work ethic." But there is so much more to "true success" than just having a lot of money. Real success biblically is tied most of all to knowing and walking in God's favor. Beyond that God also speaks of things like character and virtue. These things are developed by not only working hard - but also in submitting to the counsel of wise and godly people. What many people do not understand is that submission to such wise counsel also means being willing to accept criticism. Let me put before you two Old Testament examples from which we can learn. We first come to a King in the Old Testament named Rehoboam. He was the son of Solomon who received the kingdom when his father died. The people came to him asking for him to lighten the load that his father put on them. Rehoboam asked his father's counselors what to do. They advised him to take a position of servant to the poeple, lighten their load, and they would serve him. He rejected such counsel and chose instead to listen to his own friends who said to be harsh and tell the people who was king and who was in charge. He rejected wise counsel from godly men. The end was that he was NOT honored. He wound up losing 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. He also was humbled further when he would not listen to God's life-giving rebuke and turn from his idolatrous ways. In the end, his kingdom was severely weakened and eventually overrun by Egypt. The second king we seek to learn from is David. David was confronted and rebuked by Nathan the prophet for his sexual sin with Bathsheba. Instead of neglecting this correction and discipline, he received it - and was restored. He had some pretty severe discipline for what he did - but never rebelled against it. He knew he deserved far worse - and therefore submitted himself to God in all of it. David was honored for being a man after God's own heart. Such praise was given because of his repentance and willingness to undergo and learn from discipline. It turned him from a disastrous course and back into the arms of God. It is so important that we be wise and learn that it takes hard work and discipline to truly succeed in life. Those who do such things will be blessed in the end. Their lives may not be profiled among the rich and the famous - but they will be honored in the one place where it matters. They will be honored before the throne of God in the day of judgment. It is there where we find out whether we are blessed and wealthy - or whether we are going to know eternal poverty and shame. Be wise - choose the former - submit to God - and listen to life-giving rebuke. A wicked messenger falls into adversity, But a faithful envoy brings healing. Proverbs 13:17
Recently we've watched as the "Wiki-leaks" betrayals have become public. These were betrayals because they were the release of secret government documents that should not have been released to the public. Their exposure - as the exposure of any message that a messenger should have kept to himself, or delivered faithfully only to those to whom he was sent - is a betrayal of the highest order. Let us take a closer look, though, at why such things happen in every generation. We learn that it is a "wicked" messenger who falls into adversity. This is a messenger with a propensity for his wickedness. It is that wickedness that makes him fall into adversity - first with those who wish to use him for their own purposes. They know of sordid details of his life. Many who have been wicked messengers were involved in adulterous affairs with double agents - or had financial problems - or drinking problems. Whatever the case - their wickedness was a flaw that their enemies used to get information from them. They finish using them when they are eventually caught by their own government. Then their lives are filled with even more misery as they are jailed or even executed for their crimes against their nation. Whereas this is true of nations, it is even more true of those who preach a false gospel. They are wicked messengers because they preach peace to people, when there is no peace. They preach a gospel of man's works, when man cannot be made righteous by his own works. They preach a gospel of self-effort when no amount of man's effort will ever make him right with God. It is either by God's grace - or man will face the wrath of God for his sin. This kind of wicked messenger falls into adversity because if nothing else - he will fall into the hands of an angry God in the judgment. A faithful envoy brings healing instead. He is faithful with the message with which his superiors sent him. This is a blessing to those above him. In the case of the gospel he is a faithful messenger of the gospel. This indeed brings about eternal healing - as the breach between man and God is closed by the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This faithful envoy brings exactly what man needs. He speaks the truth about man's condition before God - sinful and rebellious. He speaks truth about God's nature - that He is holy and just - as well as merciful and loving. He speaks the truth about Jesus Christ - that He is the God-man who came to earth to pay for our sins. He speaks the truth about salvation by grace alone, through faith alone. He faithfully calls men to repentance and to put their faith in Jesus Christ rather than their works or in man-made religion. This man truly brings the healing of man's soul from his eternal malady of sin. The wise man is the one who embraces this role of speaking the truth - and who faithfully offers the healing of God to a world that desperately needs it. In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12:28
Can there be a path where there is no death? How can Solomon say that wisdom means that there is a way of walking that does not have death on it? Death comes to all men. So what do we have here - a contradiction in the Scriptures? There are those who try to find contradictions in the Bible - who can find tons of them. Their problem is that they do not allow for poetic license by the writers of Scripture. Of course these are the same people who do not expect others to take them literally all the time in their lives. When they say that they could kill someone for what they said - they do not expect the hearers to immediately alert the police about their murderous intentions. We all use these kind of expressions almost every day. It is only those who WANT to find problems in the Scripture that try to expose what is clearly poetic language. What seems to be a contradiction here is actually understood when understanding this passage in the context of the whole counsel of Scripture. You see the Bible speaks of righteousness in a way that we do not normally conceive. It speaks of "absolute" righteousness in reference to God's righteousness. The "way of rightreousness" therefore is not a works thing, it is a faith thing. The righteous man lives by faith. This means that he receives righteousness as a gift - and the gift comes from God Himself. Therefore the way of righteousness is a lifestyle that looks to God for justification. In the way of righteousness is life. We experience life when we turn to Him and receive the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ on the basis of faith (see Romans 3:21-26). In the pathway of this righteousness there is no death. This is not saying that people will not die physically. If you understand both Testaments of the Bible you know that there is more than one kind of death mentioned. There is physical death which is experienced by all men. There is also spiritual death - which is the common condition of all mankind. They are alive physically, but dead spiritually. The Bible refers to the second death in Revelation. This is what will happen to all those whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life. They will be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the age - where they will die forever. When we look at the whole counsel of God's Word, this passage not only makes perfect sense - but is even a declaration of the gospel itself. There IS indeed a "way of righteousness" that we can experience - through faith in Jesus Christ. It is THE ULTIMATE way of righteousness - and more than that - it is the ONLY way of righteousness. When we walk in that way - living by faith - there is no death in that way. We may die physically (which the Bible refers to as "falling asleep") but death will be swallowed by life - and life eternally. That is the truth of the gospel. It is not a contradiction - it is a glorious revelation! A lazy man does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a man is diligence.
Proverbs 12:27 One of the most precious things you can ever develop in your life is diligence. I remember reading a godly man a long time ago who said, "Many things go to the diligent man simply because he is dilgent about the things he does." There are large numbers of people who are very gifted, but who lack diligence. They will begin the race in the lead - but soon will be eclipsed by the less gifted who are simply more diligent about what they do in life. Here we are introduced to a lazy man. He is so lazy that even though he has either caught or killed prey that can serve as food, he refuses to roast it. As a result his meat will soon become rotten and useless. He is the picture of someone who has an ability (evidently here it is either hunting or trapping) but who will not do the work that is necessary to take his ability and make it something truly useful to others. Often we see that the more gifted someone is, the less they work hard to hone their gifts to serve others. In the end, their gift is used primarily only to serve themselves and their selfish appetites. Sadly fare too many gifted individuals have written over their lives the epitaph that they were gifted - but lacked the diligence and hard work to make their gift all it could be. The wise man knows that diligence is indeed a precious possession. The idea presented by a precious possession is that first it is rare and very valuable. Due to the fact that we are fallen, we are not prone to diligence on our own. Therefore it is either developed due to the influence of people who will help us be faithful and hard-working - or - it will be granted to us as God develops our character through the things He Himself teaches us. The word possession has the idea of wealth that is sufficient for our needs. It is enough for us. Diligence in that way is not the drive that some people have for riches that becomes an all-consuming passion that drives out all other things in their thinking. They eventually are destroyed - not by diligence - but by an all-consuming desire for more. Indeed their hard work is based more out of greed than wisdom. For this reason - the ability to be diligent means working hard, being faithful to tasks to see them done and done well - but not the foolishness of thinking that we are what we make or accomplish. If you have been blessed by having biblical diligence - you are rich! Your wealth will be seen in ways that go far beyond your bank account. Your wealth will be seen in the way that you work - the way that your work blesses others - and the way that even in hard, diligent work, you continue to glorify God. The righteous is a guide to his neighbor, But the way of the wicked leads them astray. Proverbs 12:26
What kind of neighbor are you? Jesus once told a group of people that they were to love their neighbor as they loved themselves. An individual in the crowd, wanting to justify himself as well as hopefully humiliate Jesus, asked the question, "Who is my neighbor?" That brings me to a principle I've learned in my own life - as well as in Bible study. Here is the principle. If you don't like what Jesus said, the dumbest thing you can do is ask a smart-alek question about it. If you did not like what He said at first - you are really not going to like how He answers your question. When Jesus answered their question about a neighbor, He said in effect that anyone and everyone is their neighbor. In that particular story the two Jewish leaders were the goats and the Samaritan was the hero. I'm sure that this endeared Him even more to the Pharisees and religious Jews who asked the question in the first place. I went through all this to assert the fact that Jesus made it clear that all those around us - especially those in need - are our neighbors. So, having said this, I ask my first question again, "What kind of nieghbor are you?" That is what today's proverb helps us to become - very good neighbors to those around us. The righteous is a guide to his neighbor. So, in order to be a good neighbor, you need to live and speak in a way that guides them. From what we read in the rest of this proverb - that the wicked leads their neighbor's astray - we see that this guidance has to do with leading them in the right way - in a good way. Another thing we can rightly assume is that since this is written in the Bible, which is God's revelation of Himself, the "right" and the "good" way of which we speak is God's way. Do you lead your neighbor's in God's way? That is the real question that needs to be posed to each of us. First of all, do you know the spiritual condition of your neighbors? Are they Christians? Are they aware of the gospel of Jesus Christ? If not, this is where you begin. You being by leading them to Christ. That is most definitely the right way. But more and more in Christian circles we are not sharing Christ with those around us. I don't know if this statistic still holds true, but at one time it took over 90 Baptists to lead a person to Christ. Before you think I'm picking on the Baptists, I imagine that number doesn't change much when it is transferred to Calvary Chapelites. Who knows it may go up! The problem is that what this means is that probably 1 out of ever 90 believers is actually sharing their faith - and knowing what I do about my particular area - I bet that is too low a number. It is more like 1 out of 250 are sharing their faith in Jonesboro. So what does this mean? It means we are NOT being a guide to our neighbors when it comes to THE MOST IMPORTANT TRUTH in life itself. God left us on earth after saving us so that we could be a guide to others. In proverbs it says that a wise man wins souls. A wise man takes every opportunity to share Christ with others - and lead them to turn from sin and put their faith in Jesus rather than in their false gods, their religious works, or in nothing at all. It also means that we are to be guides to our neighbors when it comes to truth in general. Therefore I ask another question. Are we being guides to our neighbors by the way we live - and the things we support and oppose? All it takes for evil to triumph is for CHRISTIANS to not guide their neighbors! We need to speak up concerning biblical morality and biblical principles. First though we might want to "live-up" these things. Our country used to be a Christian nation. The reason it has abandoned those principles is because Christians abandoned living them out and guiding their neighbors with them. The second half of this proverb warns us that the way of the wicked - leads people astray. It leads their neighbors astray. The word "way" here is our old friend "derek" in the Hebrew. It speaks of a lifestyle. It is what we would see if a lifestyle was made into a path for us to see. When the wicked live the way they do - it leads people astray. If you do not believe this, think about how the stars in Hollywood live - and how it has affected our nation's morals. We see them in movies and on television as they push the envelope further and further morally. Christians protest - and even complain of what is put before us. The problem is that we don't come out with the positive alternative. Even worse - we are not taking the gospel to our generation - thus making sure that there are more lost people in our generation than in any before it. Lost people act lost - its what they do. Therefore by not guiding our neighbors - we insure that the next generation will be even more ungodly than our own. Wisdom knows that fallen men will act fallen. Wisdom knows that sinners will encourage other sinners to act like sinners. Wisdom also knows that without a Word from God to arrest men in their sinful ways, they will not turn from them. The righteous in this passage are not righteous because of what they have done for themselves. They are righteous by faith in Christ. They are transformed because Jesus Christ has become to them not just righteousness - but wisdom as well. They are living godly lives because of the grace of God. Therefore the wise know that they must be guides to their neighbors. Otherwise their neighbors will not come to Christ. Romans chapter 10 reminds us that unless we guide our neighbors - they will not know Christ, believe in Christ, and be transformed by His power to walk in godliness. Listen to Paul's words to the believers of his day. "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" (Romans 10:14-15) Our neighbors MUST be guided. We are the ones to guide them - and we cannot guide them unless we bring them the good news of the gospel. Not everyone who hears will receive Christ. But this we can know for sure, NO ONE WILL unless we guide them and share the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with them. Be a guide to your neighbors - not someone who, through their silence, leads them astray. |
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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