GOD’S WISDOM FOR YOU
PROVERBS 21:25-26
25 The desire of the sluggard will bring his death
for his hands refuse to labor.
The lazy man is torn between his laziness and everything else. When his laziness wins, his whole life (body and soul) loses. This is not only true of his physical needs like food and companionship, but also his spiritual needs. He “gives up meeting together with the church, as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25), and he sins in four ways:
1 . He starves his own soul, letting unbelief grow like thorny weeds to his own damnation (Luke 8:7).
2 . He sets an example for his neighbors that refusing to worship is no sin at all, so that their weak faith is weakened further by his sinful example (1 Corinthians 8:11).
3 . He sets no example at all for his loved ones, so that even if he knows the gospel, they will not, and so he condemns them to unbelief and eternity in hell (Jeremiah 36:31).
4 . By avoiding worship, he does not add his voice to the prayers of the saints. He does not build anyone up by worshiping with them, and he withholds comfort that they might have received and about which he might never know—but the God of all things, visible and invisible, knows (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Colossians 1:16).
26 All day long someone covets something,
but the righteous gives and does not hold back.
This proverb is sometimes joined with verse 25, but it seems to be its own entity. The subject of the first line is not stated in Hebrew: “All the day (he) covets (a desire).” The parallelism of the verse is between coveting and giving. The “someone” might be anyone. Coveting never ends, because even having a thing only leads to wanting more. True joy is found when we are content with what God gives us. Just because the super-wealthy think that’s foolish and petty doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. Let the powerful man crave more power and covet recognition and fame. When we are content, we will be happy to give to someone who is in need. When we empty ourselves, of our wisdom, our compassion, our love, or even of our wealth, God will fill us up again.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota