Proverbs 20
1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
2 The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
3 It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
8 A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
10 Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
14 It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
15 There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
(Scripture taken from the King James Version, 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States. To read this passage from The Message, go to www.biblegateway.com and do a passage lookup.)
Have you ever watched one of those news shows where the host has guests with opposing opinions on a topic, and the people just “go at it!” Or sometimes this will happen when one of the early morning news anchors has “experts” on to discuss a hot topic and you see them on a split screen, all vying for the spotlight and a chance to give THEIR opinion, which of course each feels is the right one! Those conflicts frustrate me to no end, and the really heated ones make me want to cover my ears and shake my head (or change the channel!), especially when the host cannot seem to rein everyone in and control the debate.
These people may think they are intelligent and that their opinions are correct. But more times than not, they end up looking like fools – and rude, belligerent, unkind people you wouldn’t want to know and most certainly would not trust! It seems like yelling and screaming your opinion at others has become more acceptable in our society lately, along with openly voicing our criticisms of others about subjects once considered impolite. I’m all for freedom of speech, but I think in many ways, the yelling and screaming is actually a form of laziness. It’s easier, sometimes, to just yell and scream at each other until somebody caves rather than go to the trouble and effort to work things out quietly and politely. Nobody wants to take the time to hear the other person out and weigh their thoughts, consider the facts, and draw reasonable conclusions.
The Bible is clear about laziness of any kind. Verse 13 says “love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty.” And Verse 11 says “even a child is known by his doings." So let’s ask ourselves – are we lazy and preferring to behave like a child, with selfish motives and impatience that leads us to kick and scream and demand our own way? Or are we wise, listening to the teachings of God’s word and carefully choosing our words and actions and weighing the consequences of each?
©2007 Debbie Robus
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