This is a rich chapter. The similes used by the writer to describe the fool are picturesque and communicate very clearly. The descriptions of the sluggard, the one who is lazy, are comical as they describe the end of that road. In the middle of those descriptions lie two statements that speak loudly to me.
The first is verse 17: "Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own." Have you ever jumped into a quarrel that was not yours? Invested your energy, both emotional and physical, in an argument that had nothing to do with you? It takes wisdom to know what is yours and what is another persons - especially when the other person is someone we know well and love!
The second thing in this chapter that impresses me is in verses 18-19: "Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, 'I was only joking!'" It makes me think of the way we sometimes say things that are cutting, or bordering on making fun of someone, and then follow the comment with "just kidding." As if there is nothing wrong with saying unkind things as long as the person says they were kidding. I also know that I have done that myself. As this wisdom writer continues to emphasis the way we speak ... here is another habit that needs to be broken. It is not a joke when we cut someone down. Specifically this saying has to do with deception, maybe even manipulation, and when challenged about it ... oh, I was just kidding. I can hear our Lord saying, "Let your yes - be yes. And let your no - be no." Plain speech. Kind speech. The kind of words that portray wisdom ... not folly.
Don't know about you ... but I have some work to do! Awareness is the beginning place ...
Lord, give us ears to hear our own words. Put a spotlight on any time that we fall into this trap. Bring it to our mind. Help us break that hurtful habit. I pray that, through Your Spirit, we can develop the habit of speaking plain words, honest words, kind words.
Speaking of words… I love verse 2:
ReplyDelete• Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
I have heard people (some well-meaning, others not so much) forecast dire “consequences” if I continued to walk a path which I knew God had called me to travel. Many of them were further along in life circumstances and had more experience. So I should be worried… right? Not so fast. I hear John saying in 1 John 4:4 "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" and Paul's words in Romans 8:31 "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Satan is called “the accuser” for good reason. But with God on my side, who judges motives and lets no undeserved curse come to rest, not even Satan himself can make his curse or accusation or forecast “stick.” I can walk in victory, ahead of time -- hallelujah!