How Proverbs Changed How I See Everything

The book of Proverbs

changed

my life, it literally

changed

my life in so many different ways. I grew up not having much wisdom like the rest of you, but it was the first book of the Bible I started reading. book of Proverbs and it really transformed my life it changed the way I saw myself the way I looked at the world the way I evaluated situations the ability to have clarity clarity is sometimes very valuable when you are going through difficult times Just getting an understanding of what's going on, I think the book of Proverbs might be the least applied book of the Bible and it might have the most application, so I'm happy to take a tour of Proverbs 27 today as we take a break. in the Dial the series for just one week because we make decisions every day and these decisions impact our lives and the lives of the people around us and many of the decisions in the habits that we have now are like little snowballs that we are rolling . the hill every day and they accumulate snow and then they get bigger and bigger and they have a much bigger impact on the future than we realize as we start these habits and these behaviors and the way we do things, so maybe time It's time to restore your focus a little on the book of Proverbs and this will be a preview for you to do it.

I think

proverbs

should be a kind of soundtrack to our lives, they should be in the background helping us stay informed. making thoughtful decisions every time we make decisions, when we need clarity in difficult situations or when our natural foolishness threatens us, which for me is every five minutes we often have the book of Proverbs to correct our path and I think there is a lot of wisdom here, so let's dig in, we're going to go verse by verse through

proverbs

chapter 27, starting here in verse 1, it says, don't boast about tomorrow because you don't know what the day will bring, don't boast about tomorrow. , because?

You could be wrong, pretty simple wisdom, right, it's pretty basic stuff. I think this relates to James' book. James puts it this way in James chapter 4, verses 13 to 16, he gives us more details, he says, come now, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and we will trade and make profit, but you do not know what tomorrow will bring what is your life because you are a fog that appears for a little while and then fades away. you should say this is what you should say instead, Lord willing, we will live and do this or that, since you brag about your arrogance, all that boasting is bad now, sometimes people really get ahead in business or in different spheres of life.

By bragging about tomorrow, they sell themselves as having some kind of grand agenda and plan that they are going to achieve, but the wisdom of Proverbs says that this is not a good thing and may mean someone else getting noticed. Why aren't you going to brag about tomorrow? Now you can say, here's my agenda, here's my plan, I've got

everything

figured out as best I can, but you have to admit that you don't know if that's really going to happen. At work, you don't know for sure what's going to happen. passing tomorrow and there's wisdom and just realizing that if you think your plans are foolproof, there's always a fool who could ruin those plans, it can always happen, so it surprises me when I think about it.

This idea of ​​not bragging about tomorrow even though making plans is good, but not bragging about it, right? It amazes me how much modern prosperity preaching does this very thing: the guy in the pulpit brags about what will happen to you tomorrow. All the doors that will open and all the blessings that will come and all the prosperity that is coming your way, all the good things that are about to unfold and watch how it is always about to happen, they usually don't talk about it. how great it is next year they always talk about how great next year will be next year they say how great next year will be how come they're not just like telling everyone hey, you're already on top, Do you remember I told you?

Last year was going to be great and I was just going to continue saying that it's always like that to brag about tomorrow. I think there is something reckless in that, so the application of this first verse don't brag about tomorrow because you don't What I don't know what one day will bring is that you are ready for problems in your life because if you believe that all your plans will work perfectly, you don't think about contingency plans, you don't worry, it's fine, what if? This school plan doesn't work and what if this business opportunity doesn't work?

What if this fails in some way? What I am going to do? Don't look stupid because it will work for a while. If you like to go overboard and exaggerate your schedules and your plans, people will be really impressed by you first. Wow, a man with a plan, a person you know, but those who know you well will eventually start to dismiss

everything

you say and me. I've seen this happen, maybe the person who brags about tomorrow ends up being the person people don't trust in tomorrow because they aren't realistic about their expectations, making them exciting to people who don't know them. well, but people who know them well tend to value their promises a little humbly, so there is some wisdom in verse two that says: let another praise you and not your own mouth as a stranger and not your own lips , in other words, it is better to speak well of someone else than of someone else. it's talking really well about yourself now applying this to your life, which could apply very constantly, it requires a lot of self-awareness as I have to really take an honest look at myself and think about the things I say, the speech patterns.

In my life I am more likely to congratulate others or congratulate myself. Am I more likely to speak well of what someone else is doing or to speak well of my own? My thing, we're all naturally interested in whatever we're doing. But what are my chances of being that kind of loving person who lifts others up? That's the idea. It is better to speak well of someone else than yourself. This is you. You won't notice that you're doing this wrong unless you have that real, sober assessment. from your own speech and you could say what the problem is here well, the point is proverbs, not all proverbs refer to a big problem in your life, often it's about wisdom, it's just wisdom, it's wisdom now, it's divine wisdom. not only does wisdom move you forward in life it's not just about getting ahead sometimes it's just about walking in the fear of the Lord and this idea of ​​speaking well of others and not of yourself is a big problem here now verses 1 and 2, I think.

They connect a lot of the book of Proverbs with these concise statements like chapters 10 to chapter 29 or something, they're like concise one-line statements that you can pick apart and you can try to apply to your life, but I think that these two verses are about. together sometimes they do it sometimes it's a set of verses sometimes they do it sometimes they don't I don't want to force it normally it's not that difficult to realize when they go together but here I see in verse one don't brag about what you will do and then in the verse two don't boast about what you've done, but about what other people have done and that's like a good rule of life and imagine being surrounded by a group of people who do this, it would be like a good place to be it's like being around a good group of people this is just wisdom that gives you healthy relationships and creates a positive community verse three a stone is heavy and the sand is heavy but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both now those family members with manual labor You'll understand that a stone is heavy, sand is heavy, there are certain jobs where you say, oh man, you know, moving sandbags large amounts of sandbags, that's a lot of work moving stones, that's a lot of heavy lifting, like that. that's the image you should have in your head but the application is that the fool's provocation is heavier than both now it's not the fool the fool isn't heavy now that can also be true I don't know if it's possible maybe not, but the provocation of the fool or another word to put there is the word anger that is heavy that is a weight it is a burden that the fool puts on other people now what the hell is he talking about what is the fool like give me a burden I think it will pass and I will go a When I read this proverb, I give you the impression that when you irritate a pious person, they do not charge you like the fool does, but you provoke the fool and he becomes scared of you and his slow malicious intention slowly.

The heat overwhelms you or they overreact and this is like going crazy now they are angry, they are angry to the point where you are being overreacted by their overreaction, this is often how fools will control the people around them. they'll control them by turning around and then they'll all say look I'm not even going to argue with you because I think the burden of your anger is worse than carrying heavy sand and rocks okay I don't want to deal with that and that's what I think we're getting out of this wrong. genius here's an app bad temper is a burden we put on everyone in our lives that's a sobering perspective I have to say I'm impatient I have a bad temper right?

Just yeah, sometimes I talk to people, maybe we don't realize the burden we're putting on everyone in our lives when we have that kind of temperament and that's a pretty heavy thing to think about. I mean, that pun is intended, now the fool often. They think they're right about whatever they're wrong about, and because they're so annoying, no one wants to argue with them about it. You know, people like this in your life are probably right about who you are, even when they're wrong. Don't even argue with them about this because it's just not worth it, so this ends up catching the sucker.

They think they are winning an argument, but all they are doing is cutting off all sources of correction. in their lives because of the burdens they create verse four says that anger is cruel anger is overwhelming, but who can resist jealousy? Now the last verse talked about anger, so there may be some connection here between the two verses, the provocation of the fool, but so anger is cruel anger is overwhelming but who can face jealousy? The idea is that jealousy is like the next level. Jealousy is an even bigger problem, you know, harder than these other things.

Jealousy is even worse than anger and anger. What wisdom can I learn from? Verse 4, beware of jealousy, it's a simple thing, just beware of jealousy, if you are doing things that provoke jealousy, you are in danger, this does not mean that the other person's jealousy is justified or not, it is simply a question of life wisdom. if you realize that that is going to cause jealousy and that is something that you should be aware of and that you should do even just to protect yourself and this does not necessarily say that jealousy is wrong or that jealousy is right, there is actually a proverb which talks about the danger of committing adultery with a married person, one of the dangers is the anger of your husband, when he catches you he will not have mercy on you, do not seek mercy from that guy and then there is how it is simply a wisdom in this, it is a imprudence the danger that one brings to himself when he provokes that kind of jealousy, but I think there is an application to God in this because God is a jealous God now when we say that the world often misunderstands because they're used to the emotion human nature of jealousy, which in most cases is unjustified, most of the time people are jealous or envious, it is not something justified, but jealousy exists, as if I were dating my wife. and she starts flirting with someone else and I feel jealous, that's actually an appropriate feeling now I can handle it sinfully or I can handle it righteously that's it now I have that dilemma but that's an appropriate type of jealousy because of the commitment we have to each other others, well, God is jealous in the sense that we belong to him, it was his creation, he made us, he made us for himself, it is a good thing, it is because of his love, compassion and connection with us that he has a suitable type. of jealousy because it is worthy then what I would say is that we are realizing the weight of judgment that is coming on people who turn their back on God and love other things instead in the sense of idolatry loving the things of this world verse 5 says open rebuke is better than hidden love this is one of those Proverbs that sticks in my mind a lot I think about this a lot for some reason open rebuke is better than hidden love open rebuke in the Scriptures is generally a The bad thing is this.

I think we have to understand this context to understand this verse. This does not mean that open rebuke is good at this time. There are those who think it is there. It is your primary calling in life to rebuke other people. And I want to do it. to openly reprimand you actually this would not be an open reprimand because I am not calling you by your name and that is the nature of open reprimand. I am putting a person in front of a group of people to point out his error in front of those other people it is an open rebuke, I think that is what the idea means and in Matthew 15 we are told that when our brother sins against uswe should take it aside just us and that person and have a private conversation so that when people offend you, the best way to try to restore that relationship initially is a one on one thing, just the two of you, don't tell others, just you two, if you don't.

I listen, so you can bring that kind of thing to other people, so Matthew 15 talks about this being a private rebuke. Galatians 6 tells us that when someone is trapped in sin and error, our job as Christians is to go to them and seek to restore them. them gently, so there is a sense of gentleness that it means when I confront someone by mistake. I want to try to be gentle in the sense that there now seems to be one big exception to the rule and that is when people publicly proclaim the error. must be refuted or publicly rebuked, so public teaching requires open rebuke.

I think that's consistent. Jesus does this again and again, but private, one-on-one, sin problems do not require open rebuke. I don't need to expose you. explosion, I need to talk to you privately, that's the idea, okay, so what's the point? If open reprimand is generally considered a bad thing, but better than hidden love, we often do not want ideas that hidden love is even worse than open reprimand. to open the reprimand because in part we are just ashamed I don't want to tell you that you are wrong, especially in our culture, how do I tell people that they are wrong?

I mean, I will tell everyone about them, but I don't want to tell them that you know and that's where we are because we don't want confrontation, but there is another even worse situation which is when we hide love our compassion for others because we feel that It's uncomfortable, we feel uncomfortable, we feel insecure. that by being really loving and kind to others, they may not reciprocate and therefore, you know, maybe it's a macho thing, this is not a healthy situation, there's nothing manly about being cold and distant. Of the people, there is nothing manly about this, it is not healthy for you, it is not healthy for your family or your friends.

I don't think this proverb gives you an excuse to go and tell your crush how much you are in love with them. That's not the kind of love we're talking about. and we often read when we see love we think oh passion, but the scriptures often talk about a healthier kind of love, the same kind of love that a brother and sister can have, so I think you're more in that vein, yeah , it is a bad situation when we are worried about being sexist, clumsy or insecure, that is why we do not share love and we see this as Paul in the epistles, he writes so much compassion in his epistles when he says things like Philippians 1:8 for God is my witnesses of how I long for you with all the forgiveness of God as my witness of how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus now I'm supposed to notice like this it's like he's really modeling you, you know he's being soft in his letter to them in Philippians and he's like a man, I long for them with the affection of Christ Jesus, but that's exactly what he was supposed to do, inspire by the Holy Spirit to just be moved with them, there's something wonderful about being able to tell people not in weird ways but in genuine ways I love you I appreciate you a lot you know that and we need that and so share it don't hide that love share it be open about your love for other people When I was doing youth ministry, I told the students not to They will be ashamed to tell their parents that you love them when you talk on the phone, you know your mom says: I love you and you say, yes and you.

Hang up because your pet your friends are here and you're paranoid and I gave him a good line back I said you know just tell your mom yes I love you too mom and when your friends laugh just look at them like you don't love your mom , what's the matter? I thought it was pretty good anyway, open rebuke is better than hidden love, but I think the next verse goes with this. I think this is another pair of verses. verse 6 faithful are the wounds of a friend profuse are the kisses of an enemy profuse are the kisses of an enemy I think that loving rebuke can be seen as the wounds of a friend and that there are times when you call someone and how to know when the window of rebuke is open The right and appropriate movement I think when it is driven by love when you are like a man, I am not you if I do not call you, it is a good time to have that rebuke open, if that is what it should be happen, is when you say if I don't do this I'm not even loving you and you have to apply this, you say, well, tell me exactly when to apply this and I say, look, this is the book of wisdom, you store this wisdom. and you seek to discover where it applies in your life and it applies in a variety of situations, but may the Lord remind you, there are times when open reprimands are required and that is when not doing it is not doing it. to love people to love rebuke are the wounds of a friend on the other hand profuse are the kisses of an enemy says that it is the enemy who kisses you they congratulate you they flatter you they are not talking like just literal kisses this is talking metaphorically to encourage you No matter what you do, you're doing great, you're a superstar and that kind of thing, although it's just not true, some people I think misunderstand this reality that the friend who criticizes you is a good friend.

A friend who tells you that you have problems is a good friend and has this attitude towards the church and the church keeps calling them out because they keep rebelling against Christ in their life and that's why they decide that the church judges them. Not me, now there are. Surely there are critical churches, but you know what there is, there are also churches that offer the faithful the wounds of a friend or someone, someone who simply lives in many commitments, many problems, so they are their friends who love them, that they are very Christians. I went in, you have to get out of it, hey man, you have to deal with that problem and then they go into the world because the world never offers this correction which is the kisses of the enemy and then there are some who find acceptance in the world.

But what is accepted are the things that destroy them and that is why it can be something really painful. Some people leave the church to find the kisses of the world and obtain a kind of affirmation that are not the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of the enemy are the profuse kisses of the enemy that word profuse means excessive excessive you are simply affirming too much that is the idea and the world does this the enemy does it it's you they're just claiming too much the marketers do this right they claim everything about you oh man it's I love you I love your hair your clothes your shoes your laughs are great you're a very smart person when I buy this and this is something you know, it's a sales tactic, you know you should try to like it. overemphasizing positive things about people that word profuse could also be translated misleading that is excessive in other words it is is Trixie - Trixie's hobbit maneuver is what it is and they are actually being misleading so it is the excessive statements that they reveal the red flag to us that should go up that someone is trying to mess with me right now you know what you have in those people in your life those people who tell you things as they are but care about you there are wounds but they are those of a friend and you have who affirm you no matter what and I think who you turn to says a lot about who you are says a lot about your character Do I hide from people who will tell me things like they are and just start? accumulating those who will simply affirm me no matter what that is a dangerous thing and that is what this proverb I think is giving us now.

I think the gospel gives us a very good application of this verse, but faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses. of the enemy of the furnace now some people say it's the wounds of Jesus, his wounds are faithful, right, the wounds of a friend and I think that's a really interesting application, but I actually tend to lean this way. I would say that the offensive nature of saying that you have to face the facts of your sin those are the wounds of a friend someone who is preaching the gospel who loves people and tells them about their sin problems those wounds are painful but they heal you.

They will lead to the gospel of Christ that is the idea in fact, it is unhidden love which in itself is unhidden love preaching the gospel and sharing with people even though it may cause difficulties in relationships, that is unhidden love, on the other hand, the world will just affirm everyone straight to hell, affirm them forever and ever and ever and ever a manned firmament is just profuse kisses of the world that never stopped the affirmation, so remember that as you witness that it is love that forces us to preaching about sin, it's not our hatred towards people, my God, if you hate it, just leave it. you only know that it is our love that compels us verse 7 says that he who is full hates honey but to him who is hungry everything bitter is sweet, everything bitter is sweet but I really reflected on this one as I was preparing for tonight I really planned this um here's a question for you, okay, I think we all have the right right, if you have, if you are full, you don't even want the sweet dessert like the honey type, not like when the waiter comes, do you?

Did you save room for dessert? I want to save all the waiters. I never save room for dessert. I don't buy more food. We're done, but um, but yeah, you say no. I'm so full that even something sweet sounds terrible to me, oh, we get the idea, but yeah. you are very hungry, all the best is sweet, right, they say hunger is the best seasoning, so if you are a bad cook, make people wait longer, they know you like your food better, but that is not the application of the proverb, so which one is better. However, which do you think this proverb says is better?

Is it better to be full and hate honey or better to be hungry and everything bitter is sweet? That's kind of a challenge. I'm not sure I can say which one is better. I'm serious. I might just be suggesting moderation I might be suggesting moderation Hey, your enjoyment increases when your usage decreases, you overindulge in things you think are fun and they stop being fun, they just become obsessive addictions. I have to do this all the time, but the real enjoyment of it diminishes and there may be a sense of restraint, we live in a compulsive culture, you know, we live in a compulsive culture and we may need to step back on some of those compulsive things. so that we can enjoy them in moderation in their appropriate context.

One commentator says this. He says that poverty has the advantage over abundance that it disposes men to be grateful for the smallest blessings, though mixed with care and trouble, when the rich are not very careful. tend to be dissatisfied with Nate and nauseated by his most delicious pleasures, about which for a long time, sir, some King James comments have faded for you, they're basically saying it's interesting that sometimes you'll look at someone who has less and it's really grateful for the little that they and someone who has a lot and they're not really grateful at all something that we lack gives us an attitude of gratitude there's something there everything bitter is sweet although I don't know if that's really a good thing I don't know, I know if I want everything bitter to be sweet, maybe we will do it.

I'm not quite sure how to take that part of the proverb if that's a positive or negative thing. I'm not entirely sure because I think about young people who have really bad family relationships, so they are hungry for a loving, healthy relationship and that's why they hook up with some abusive or basically horrible partner to be a boyfriend or girlfriend because every bitter thing is sweet, so even though this person is just as messed up as they and they both have an unhealthy relationship, they're having this real feeling, oh, it's so sweet, it's such a wonderful relationship, but they don't know what healthy relationships are like because they never had one, neither with their parents nor with their siblings they are not with this other person, so I think it is not a healthy position to be in, we want, so maybe a sense of moderation somewhere in between be the best place to be, but there may be an application of the gospel here, meaning there is a sweet side and a bitter side to the gospel being bitter in my opinion here the bitterness of realizing my sin that's not that's not fun okay, I'm broken that's not exactly a fun experience this sweetness of realizing forgiveness grace salvation in Christ, eternal life, I've been given hope, relationship with Almighty God for all eternity.

I mean, that's pretty sweet, so there's a really bitter side and a really sweet side to these things and my thought is that self-satisfied people in this world are full in the world and that's why they reject even the sweetness. of heaven and much less the bitterness of sin, so they are too satisfied with themselves, however, the hungry would be those people who, like Jesus, enter blessed. The poor in spirit or those who hunger and thirst for justice and are only starving for eternal things are starving because they are starving for God and then theythem even hearing about their sin that is still sweet and I and since I say that, I believe, man, that is totally my life, of course, I mean, I go, yes, when I see my sin reflected in me.

I'm grateful, I mean, I'm grateful then because I see it and because of this I think. Some people won't understand seeing my own brokenness or my own flaws shining back into me so I can turn to the Lord and stuff to receive forgiveness and transform my life. I am thankful for that, so even bitterness is sweet to one who is starving for the Lord. Okay, verse eight says like a bird that strays from its nest is a man that strays from its home like a bird that strays from its nest like a man that strays from its home there is in us I think many of us especially after we get married maybe maybe before we have kids maybe after we have kids we have this temptation to get out of Dodge I just want to get out of this house I just want to get away from these people I just want to get away I feel trapped in this life and I just want to I like to escape.

This is escapism and I don't think it's very strange. I think a lot of people feel that way. I think it is a temptation that we receive. My advice is don't do it, don't even take a step in that direction. far from your home far from your family far from where God has you it is like a bird that moves away from its nest which puts that bird in great danger and leaves the nest unprotected it does both we can find escape outside leave the house and get involved in things that are not just things that you do outside the house, but there are things that keep you out of the house, you know, these are different types of things, these are things that I'm doing to keep me from leaving my own house away from my own family that's really dangerous that's really dangerous or we can do it even in our own home we can find a place in our own home to, like today, put on headphones, lock yourself in a screen and Basically, you've run away from your family and That's not very healthy either, so I would say don't take even one step away from your marriage, your children, or your home.

In that sense, it is not good, it is not good and there is another application that can apply to my walk with God because my home is with God, my relationship is with God and the place I belong is with the Lord at all times and in at all times, so save yourself from the things that would take you further away from that relationship you don't have. You don't belong to the world, you belong at home, so to speak, so verse 9 oil and perfume gladden the heart and the sweetness of a friend comes from his sincere advice.

Advice that would be sincere or sincere is another way they could translate it. that sincere advice sincere advice I think this is a friend who gives you advice that is genuine it is from his heart it is not emotional but there is like a feeling of purity in him they are telling you the truth without manipulation and not I really don't have an agenda because they're just your friends, right, they're not trying to manipulate you into doing this and that for them, but they're just friends, they're just giving you good advice, it's good advice. from someone who knows you and has no agenda beyond the glory of God and you are a good man, it's like oil and perfume bring you joy, it's so good to have that kind of advice, you need this advice in your life like you.

I really need friends, I need friends, some of us are hungry for friends, we are hungry for friends and you feel that need and you don't need a thousand friends, right, but you do need at least a few, at least a couple, at least three or four that So, who can give you that kind of advice? That kind of advice is really important in our lives. The Book of Proverbs talks a lot about friendship, in fact, the book of Proverbs has the word friend 23 times and that's more than any other book. of the Bible more than any other book in the Bible, there's a lot of stuff in there.

I encourage you to pay attention to what proverbs say about friendship. Nowadays we're not very good at friendship, at least in our culture, I mean, it's not like that's us. We're not prepared to be very good at that, you know how we ancient philosophers read about these ancient laws? Aristotle and all these guys were right, but they literally spent hours and hours philosophizing about friendship, the philosophy of friendship, as if they were studying this topic. and they thought it was really important and I don't necessarily agree with a lot of what a lot of these guys might say on different topics, but I understand the emphasis on friendship.

I believe it is there in the Scriptures. Jesus says it describes our relationship with him. like a right relationship of a true friend, I have called them my friends, there is something really very important here, so it is like oil and perfume, it gladdens your heart or it is uplifting, it is uplifting and friendship is very important if you look at the proverbs he speaks of. We choose our friends carefully, we let the right ones just choose their friends wisely because of the way the evil ones can lead them astray, he tells us, so I want to be able to choose my friends, invest in those friendships, it doesn't happen by accident, it is an investment of time, energy and be a loyal friend be a good friend to that person it is very good for you very good for you now if you are depressed maybe you should ask a friend for advice there is a good proverb for you you feel very depressed when Just like perfume oil, it has this brightening effect on a person, so friendship does the same thing.

Good advice: verse 10 says do not abandon your friend or your father's friend, nor go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity, better is a neighbor who is near than your brother who is far away I think The point of this proverb is be a loyal friend, be a loyal friend and then you will receive the benefits of loyalty from your friends, so we need friends and we must be loyal to The friendship of those friends is a commitment, it is not just an expectation , but a sense of commitment, as if your friend was the one who would drop everything to help you when you need it.

That's the idea, that's why you need local friends like that. A true practical piece of advice is that a friend who is close is better than his brother who is far away. The problem here is not that brothers are worse than friends. That's not the problem. I don't believe at all what the Proverbs say, but the problem is whether. You have a brother who is far away you say oh my brother would do anything for me but he is like 500 miles away well then you need some close friends you need some friends that a year close to where you live invest in those friendships give him something It's time to build Friendships close to where you live are really important, simple wisdom, take it or leave it.

I recommend taking the request if you need friends around and be loyal to them and being loyal to them is the same thing, it's the opposite of what you do. come to the end of this on the day of your calamity that's when they are loyal to you well, the first part said don't abandon your friend and your father's friend that's when you are loyal to them help them when they are going through difficult times the times are approaching to the friend who is suffering so that when you are he will be there for you it is just a good friendship man that is what we are talking about verse 11 says be wise my son and gladden my heart to be able to respond to the one who reproaches me now this is very different feel this verse He is a father to a son be wise my son the reputation of the father I get from this is connected to his children right because he is going to respond to those who reproach him did you see that I heard about your son?

Oh, be wise, my son, he could answer whoever approaches me. That's the idea: parents' reputations are connected to their children. Now some people think it's connected to their financial success. Oh, my son has made a lot of money. My daughter. very rich and wealthy, but that's not really what this father is asking for. Is this Peris? He doesn't say that he is rich, my son, that he is successful in business, but that he is wise. What is the desire of a godly father? It is that his children are wise, that they have wisdom. that is important be wise proverbs 3 reinforces this says this in verses 13 to 16 blessed is he who finds wisdom and he who obtains understanding because the gain from it is better than the gain from silver and its gain is better than gold it is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire can compare with his long life is in his hand and in his left hand are riches and honor, so the comparison between wisdom and wealth is to obtain wisdom, the boys obtain wisdom, wisdom will be the path through which you will obtain all other things. you need in life but you desperately need wisdom it affects everything you are but how often do we ask is that wise is what I'm asking you wisely but that's the point the point tonight is to start reminding ourselves that we should ask ourselves ourselves about all our actions is that wise is there wisdom in this wisdom always implies a perspective of God in your life real wisdom good wisdom will always imply what is right because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so look at it from the God angle, okay?

I put God on the scene as I evaluate the situation and it will always involve a moral evaluation. We see this in the book of Proverbs. Was wisdom not just how to get ahead? Wisdom is how to do the right thing. There is something right. there is a moral evaluation there, but wisdom will also be a pragmatic evaluation, that is, you look at your life and think what will happen if I keep doing it this way, just a simple pragmatic evaluation. God wants us to be wise, which also means and I feel. I have heard this many times, but it means that I will not always be guided by the Holy Spirit in every decision I make in life because if I were I would not need wisdom.

Wisdom is a matter of decision making. It is a tool for making decisions it is a tool for evaluating scenarios so that the Lord can give you capabilities of wisdom and ask and you may know that you even do it by the Holy Spirit, but he will ask you to evaluate and make decisions many times now, the Holy Spirit. he can guide you and direct you to specific actions. I just think I need to be open to both and to walk and to have wisdom and to make decisions so that God wants us to be wise and applying this to the big picture, verse 11, be wise, my son.

I believe God wants us to be wise because it also affects his reputation. Christians provide the reputation of Christianity. People often base their understanding of Christianity or their thoughts about it on Christians, not Christ. That may be a mistake, right? We should consider it. Christ, he is the ultimate Christian, but they will often base him on you and me, which is a shame I suppose, but hopefully we will be wise and then give an answer to those who want to get closer to God, that's the idea, verse 12, which the prudent see. danger and hides, but the simple one continues and suffers for it.

I remember reading this when I was a teenager to start reading the Bible and I remember seeing the word prudent and thinking I have no idea what this word means, what prudent means and It's kind of a shocking commentary on our culture that We don't even have words like prudent in our vocabulary anymore. What word do we have to cautiously say no, I won't do that? I do not think it does. I don't like what we call it and we call them cowardly chicken like weakling or something like how we call them the word the Bible has this wise they see danger and hide this is a wonderful trait it's the opposite of Yolo true, I don't know if everyone does it You know, it's still trendy, it seems a little old school to me, Yolo seems kind of like all those people tried that and died and now no one talks about it anymore, but it's pretty much the opposite of that mentality.

It's thinking about the consequences of your actions. Consequent thinking. Consequent thinking is something that children don't do very well. Have you noticed this? They are very bad at thinking about the consequences of their actions or their behaviors, they only want what they want, but I discovered that many adults are like that too and the Bible calls them simple in this proverb right here are the prudent ones, they see the danger, they can look forward and they see the consequences of the actions, so they go the other way, but the simple, I like it, it's fun and they just continue, that's the simple thing now, after years of doing domestic violence counseling, I can say that one of the things that almost everyone on the show that was convicted of committing domestic violence almost all had serious problems with. problems with consequential thinking, that is, thinking about the eventual consequences of their current behaviors, they only thought about what would happen in the next day or two or maybe in the next week or two, but not for sure in the next 20 to 30 years, that was not like that. something they had in mind consequential thinking is actually very important in marriage in business in life what we have to do is look at your marriage and ask yourself if I continue to treat my marriage this way what will it snowball into? the future and if that scares you, you have to change and if you are like a friend, that will be amazing, then continue, you know, well, you think about this with business, if I continue to treat my business or my education this way, what Is it going to happen like a snowball? inthe future if I continue to treat my physical body this way, what will it snowball into in the future? and this is where the four wise men see the danger and turn aside and take a different path verse 13 taking a man's garment when security has been set for a stranger and having it pledged when he offers security for an adulteress, the idea of a guarantee or surety bond is like our modern version of co-signing or sticking your neck out for someone else, that's the idea, hey man.

I'm going to sign, sure, I'm going to sign for that, that's the idea, when, when these guys think what they're doing is going wrong, they're going to come to me to fix it, that's the idea, generally speaking, the Bible.like super in against joint signature. Good advice for all of us to recognize that you are really against co-signing. It's a bad idea, something you shouldn't do now, why does he say take his pledge and keep it as pledge when he puts his guarantee or guarantee in a sense the equivalent of guaranteeing a stranger or an adulteress?

Well, these two groups of The strangest people is that these are people that you don't really know, but I know them. I think there are some like a good guy, I'm sure I'll risk my neck for you and the Proverbs are like you know you could love them. but this may not be the right way to do it, that's pretty much what it says or maybe she's an adulteress or the idea here is an immoral person, you know someone with that has a reputation for behaving immorally and you're putting yourself in danger your financial future. on the line to them she is not wisdom, don't do this, but I thought I was supposed to love people and help them, yes, give them money, but don't sign, see what cosine cosine is different?

I'm hooked by a Question the debt in the future if this person doesn't do his part of the work that's not something you want it's not something you want to take a man's clothing I think the idea is that they are your clothing doesn't mean taking away all of his clothing. to the person as if they were naked, the idea is that this is something personal, everyone knows you because they know that these clothes are yours and it is to help you realize that you are personally in trouble, so don't sign, there is wisdom which will save you a lot of pain and suffering and if you have ever seen Judge Judy you would realize that she would not have a show if people took the proverbs of wisdom verse 14, he who blesses his neighbor out loud, standing up early in the morning, it will be counted. like cursing, these are people who are not morning people or finally finally people will understand this, yes the applications are simple and easy, but what is the general lesson we are learning here?

I think it's a case for empathy. I think it's a case for empathy. I would like to realize that all help is not help, all kindness is not kindness and I have to take a survey of where someone is before I seek to be a blessing to them. I have to do a little survey of where she is at. Before I seek to be a blessing, a lack of empathy can cause my kindness to fail, and to really make it annoying, there is a really good piece of wisdom in verse 15, a continuous drip on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife.

Likewise, to contain it is to contain the wind or to grab oil with your right hand, you cannot, you cannot contain the wind, you cannot contain the wind, sometimes you only reach for a single oil and try to grab it, yes. it's not going to work it's not going to work and you can't stop it and that's why it's compared to a continuous drip, that would be complaining or fighting as if it were constantly starting fights all the time, that's what that continuous drip is, now let me rescue the proverbs . From our modern mentality is that if you say something about a woman you are saying it about women and that's it, that's not the case, okay, just like the Bible talks about a foolish man, that doesn't mean all men are like that, This doesn't mean all wives are like that either and if any man thinks all wives are like that it's just because you're an idiot and can't say it, that's the reality, I'm sorry, that's the truth, you have these glasses on like idiots, so I see all women as crazy anyway, but there is a great lesson to be learned here and it applies in marriage and that is that there are some women who constantly start fights in their marriage, they are like a continuous drip, those are these , those are the fights and the man trying to stop her from fighting trying to figure out how he can fix things so she doesn't fight, it's like the guy who goes around his house and plugs a leak when there's a leak there and plugs another drain. and now it leaks through there and plugs another leak, because as it is a continuous trickle that drips on a rainy day, there is a huge reserve of water coming down, it will find a way in the woman who is inclined to fight and fight, she will find something for so be upset because there are a lot of fights inside her and they will find a way out.

I think that's the lesson if you find yourself and this applies all too obviously to men if you find yourself always complaining. something is wrong with you I don't know how to pull the covers off you well enough to help people see these proverbs requires a lot of introspection and recognizing if I'm always complaining, maybe I have this kind of discontent inside me and it's finding its way out in me. life through holes all the time and that's it and I'm thinking that if the people around me would treat me better than they would hold me back, but that's not the case because no matter how well they treat you, there are always going to be that kind of thing so it's an extreme situation they're giving us an extreme situation in Proverbs and I don't want you to be paranoid maybe this is me maybe this is me now just look for wisdom in it, you know if it applies to you it should be obvious If it applies to you, though, if you're around someone who is like that, who's always fighting and complaining and stuff, I think this proverb gives you the freedom to realize that it's not your fault, right? you couldn't stop. him, if you tried, it's okay, just go about your business, be pious, be loving, but don't blame yourself for someone else's problems.

Verse 17 says iron sharpens iron and a man sharpens and I missed something. 16 was to restrain it with the is to restrain the wind or to hold oil in the right hand, so verse 17 is where we are now that I say, didn't I say that someone is confused like I probably am? I apologize. Verse 17, iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another, this one is mentioned all the time. The idea is that you have like two people and they hone each other. You know, in the same way that iron sharpens iron, you use a whetstone or you use a sharpening rod on a knife or something, and this means that there is some element of recoil in a relationship is healthy. and well, I think sometimes it keeps us from being weird, but it can also make us like you faster and more cleverly, it can make us better, it's one of the benefits of friendships and relationships where you don't completely agree. in everything, but it sharpens you and that is why we find even some abrasion in relationships can be a healthy thing iron is sharpened by iron it is good to be close to other people verse 18 he who eats fig tree cans of its fruit and he who keeps his master will be honored I think the application seems quite obvious it is as if you are tending a fig tree you are eating its fruit you protect your master you will be honored master here it refers to anyone who is in a position superior to you yes, yes he was a king or a boss or a teacher just someone in a higher position than you and you have a sense of protection for that person, you protect them, what does that refer to?

Well, I think there is a sinful part of us that wants to tear down those who have authority over us, have you done that since? It's like there's something about those who have authority over us we tend to maybe want them under us we just want to put our foot on their neck I don't know there's something about it that's in our nature or sinful nature that wants it to be a rebellion against God ultimately because he gives, he puts all authority in place, so the idea here is to protect your master, your boss, your leader, not immorally, not them from their own sins and not.

It's not like that, it's not a moral protection, but here's a question, how do I talk about them behind their back? That's actually very important. How I talk about leaders behind their backs is not a blind sense of loyalty, but a sense of respect for the role. the position they are in and realizing that gardening is needed because of course they will be under attack. Now I don't want to be the one to provide the attack and I know I've been tempted to do so. that in the past and it is good wisdom and good advice for us to remind ourselves that we want to try to protect them and it says that they will be honored, some of us seek to elevate ourselves by tearing them down instead we realized that we are part of a team we are part of this it seems like a church for example we are part of a group a team we work together to serve the Lord we do not want to put people on pillars but also I do not want to knock them down verse 19 as in water the face reflects the face then the heart of man reflects man heart of man reflects man now imagine if you rarely saw a mirror or couldn't take out your phone and just look Look at yourself with the camera to inspect.

You know, make sure everything is still there. You know, imagine you couldn't do that. That moment when you found yourself facing flat water would be deeply revealing, so this is how I see myself. You know you would. You'll see yourself for the first time in a long time, you know, when you look into the water, the water reflects the face, it reflects the face in the water, so the toughest man reflects the man. I guess the heart isn't always in sight, but that's what water looks like from time to time. Occasionally it comes out, the heart comes out in those rare moments in life when someone's heart just comes out and everyone sees them for what they are.

The answer is wow, that's who you really are, those moments where you're vulnerable and you're not. You're very open and you're very real, that shows you who you really are. Those are eye-opening moments in your life if you think about the last few times you've not only broken down emotionally but responded with the authenticity of your heart hmm, you know it went right or wrong, that was a moment of insight for that you would think and be like I can see who I am, I can see who I am through this, but you can also see who other people, you can observe other people's heart moments for lack of a patented R and you can evaluate and see what kind of person they are, you know when they are going through a maybe difficult time, maybe a great time, but somehow the heart just comes out and you can take action according to those things verse 20 says shield and Abaddon are never satisfied and they are never satisfied the eyes of a man shield and Abaddon protects the tomb The destruction of Abaddon so it's like it doesn't matter how many people die their tombs never ended it's just more people that are going to die he's never satisfied and the eyes of man or human eyes we are never satisfied now this helped me a lot when I was young because I kept foolishly thinking that if I could satisfy my eyes by seeing this or seeing that then I would feel satisfied, but I discovered that the more you feed the flesh, the bigger and worse the hunger grows and it never seems satisfied, so I apply this to my old walk, realizing that all those temptations to sin.

I want I want I want word lies was not going to satisfy it was only going to create more longing and more hunger want desire is never satisfied desire grows satisfaction decreases that is the nature of sin pity seems to be completely different right path that is not like that at all the satisfaction increases but here it seems that an endless thirst for sin decreases so the application is simply you have to say no to your own desires you will never be satisfied so start saying no, we look at this post cross and see that take up your cross, die to you same, follow Jesus, that's the app for your eyes, once, your desires are the death of you because you keep trying to satisfy them and it never will, it will only ruin you, right? let's speed through here and finish the rest of this verse 21 says and the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for the goal and a man is tested by his praise, okay, crucibles and furnaces we're talking about when you get metal and They boil it and all the filth comes out, all the impurities rise to the surface and they may like to remove the impurities, so they are purifying that metal well, they are saying it, that praise to a person does this, now this is not a praise. like when we stand in church and we praise God, it's about his praise or when people praise him, so when someone else speaks highly of you, it reveals something about you, what's that like, how you respond, it reveals a lot. about you, certain situations show us made us show up and pain is one of those situations but so is praise, praise reveals things about you and you can use this to evaluate yourself and evaluate others in a way pious I know sometimes we really work. hard on things and no one notices and that can be discouraging and sometimes you work really hard on things and everyone notices and then everyone talks aboutabout it and they tell you about it and say, man, what a good job. that you did so well that was amazing yeah and you feel it within yourself that you are now in conflict with some kind of strange spiritual test that's what this is about how do I respond do I stay humble and pious or do I have like a swollen head that you know it comes before the destruction and before the fall these things come you know this is a time of testing for you how I handle praise is a real moral test in my life keep in mind verse 22 crushed a fool crushed to a fool in a mortar and pestle along with the crushed grain, but his madness will not depart from him mortar and pestleWe're talking, I like that little stone bowl that you put grain in or something and you have that little tool The Rock where you grind everything up, that's the mortar and they're like you can make a fool.

In there, with your crushed grain, you could grind it to powder and you can't separate it from the madness of it. Now he's not suggesting that you do this to people, literally not at all, what he's saying is his madness, that of the fools, what would be the person that the fool the madness is the foolish thing that they keep doing the foolish behavior the foolish behavior they keep doing over and over and over again what they are saying is that there is nothing you outside of the fool can do to force the fool to stop doing it this is Good advice for all of us is to know that the people who They are committed to madness and cannot be stopped by anyone under any measure.

You have the decision to choose control of your own life. You free yourself. Well, they do it too and if they are so committed. their madness there is no magic trick you can do there is no amount of times you can save them from what they are doing there is no amount of work you can do that will make them change now here is the flip side you have your own madness - and it is possible that you are waiting for the world around you to change so that you stop committing some sin or some problem, and my encouragement to you is that no external mortal mortar will expel all your madness from you, it will be a decision to die. yourself by following Jesus, it puts it, it puts the responsibility squarely in our lap for the life we ​​live and there is no blame to put anywhere else, ultimately the foolishness of the fool, the foolishness you keep doing, nothing will stop it except you, but I just don't think I've hit bottom yet, well the bottom is where you stop going down, then look back and walk away.

I guess that was my bottom line, but it's not just this thing that happens to you when you have no other option. let's do the first twenty-three, we're going to read through verse 27 because this is a section here and it says not well the condition of your flocks and pay attention to your flocks because riches do not last forever and the crown lasts for everyone. generations when the grass disappears and the new growth appears and the mountain vegetation is gathered the Lambs will provide your clothing and the goats the price of a field there will be enough goat's milk for your food for the food of your home and maintenance of your for your girls, so I think the application is very simple, you know, here's the image at the end of this section in Proverbs 27 is a person who has a lot of wealth, he has riches but it's not there.

They are tempted not to perform normal daily tasks that would help them in the distant future. Maybe they want to sit on the riches they already have, so they don't think about the future, so the apps don't look at what's in them. bank look at what's coming in the future think about the future from a tax point of view this really simple app is you're thinking beyond the moment well I'm doing well right now. I can relax. I could take some time off and I can do whatever I want, that can be potentially dangerous because sometimes things that you think will last don't last and then you realize that, especially in that culture, when did you have to start growing to harvest months later? you just start way in advance, when did you have to start feeding and caring for this herd before you started getting their milk?

It was with a lot of anticipation, so today we want to invest in things in our lives that benefit us in the long term. We are not living that kind of moment to moment without thinking about the future. That is the idea. Now I want to marry this a little with the words of Jesus. because Jesus also told us not to worry about tomorrow and here proverbs seems to tell us worried about tomorrow right in Proverbs 27 we are worrying a lot about tomorrow except it is not the same as worried about tomorrow Jesus is not saying don't prepare for the future, Don is saying Don't worry about things you don't know.

The proverbs say to prepare for the future, at the same time he says not to boast about the future because you don't know what is going to happen, so here is an agreement with Jesus. Don't know. I want to worry about the future, but that doesn't mean you're not preparing for it, that doesn't mean you're not prepared for it, you're not thinking about the fact that one day you're going to need to have the retirement that you need. Be prepared for unexpected difficulties that may come, you know your direction will come eventually, that is simply the reality of life, so biblical decision making here in the book of Proverbs is seeing yourself in God's vision. , obtain the vision of God. the situation I'm looking at this with God the image make yourself a moral evaluation of your situation make a pragmatic evaluation of your situation and then you can walk in wisdom and seek to know what your responsibilities are and follow God asking if he is wise I believe whatever you are doing, it's good as a Christian, they say, it's that wise, it's what I'm doing, wise, it's a way of life, wise, if I continue living this way in ten years, I'll be like what I was thinking about if your answer is yes, I will not change, use some biblical wisdom here and make some modifications in your life.

This should give us clarity and direction. I encourage you to read the Book of Proverbs. There is much more than I could cover. I believe that the application of these Scriptures is so varied and affects our lives in so many different ways that it is simply our job to store this wisdom in our minds and hearts and let the Lord bring it to us when we need it at those different times. Crucial moments, let's pray Lori, thank you for your word, the book of Proverbs is a book that changes lives constantly, Lord, but it changes our lives in ways that maybe sometimes don't feel very exciting as we learn the wisdom, but what?

It is not like this? the nature of learning we learn it we store it we learn it simply by faith knowing that your wisdom is so essential to us and then there come those moments when that clarity changed our lives and we pray for that now Lord we pray for wisdom wisdom in our trials and wisdom in good situations that we think about abundance that we pray for wisdom so that we make correct and good decisions Lord, may we make your name great in this world as people look and see a pious and wise people in the Name of Jesus Amen.