Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
13 A wise son accepts his father’s discipline,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
2 From the fruit of a man’s mouth he [a]enjoys good,
But the [b]desire of the treacherous is violence.
3 The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;
The one who opens wide his lips [c]comes to ruin.
4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
But the soul of the diligent is made fat.
5 A righteous man hates falsehood,
But a wicked man [d]acts disgustingly and shamefully.
6 Righteousness guards the [e]one whose way is blameless,
But wickedness subverts the [f]sinner.
7 There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing;
Another [g]pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.
8 The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,
But the poor hears no rebuke.
We have lovely bookends again today, with both the scoffer and the poor not listening to rebuke. And that isn’t only, “Hey dummy, you’re doing it wrong!” Though we may need to hear it that bluntly, I think we could all do without the “dummy” part. At any rate, what does God have for us dummies today?
It’s similar to previous proverbs, where we need to be open and listening for correction. Solomon starts with a son and father, but that isn’t the only place we find correction. No matter our age, we need to be looking for God’s correction, but it isn’t often that we hear a booming voice from the sky, and sometimes His “nudges” comes in unexpected ways. So keep your eyes and ears open always.
For now, we have a whole bunch of nudges being dropped on us. First, we need to exercise self-control, especially when it comes to our words. James would later write about the tongue and it’s power to steer a whole ship off course. Such a small thing, with so much power. Use it wisely, and not frivolously.
Then we have some real practical pointers, work diligently, deal honestly, and don’t try to look like you have more money than you do. Especially in America, but I’m sure we’re not alone in this, too many blow their money to fund a lifestyle they cannot afford. Before you know it, you’re not using your money, and have gone into deep debt–using someone else’s money to keep that lifestyle afloat.
In my business I see examples of the “sluggard” who gains nothing. We have an affiliate program and so many see affiliate marketing as this “get rich quick” scheme. It’s not, it takes a lot of hard work, and it shows when someone has put in the work. And it shows when they don’t…
It isn’t for lack of information out there, telling folks the right way to handle money. After all, God’s word is chock full of it, but there’s a lot of noise and bad advice out there too. If it doesn’t involve hard work, run away! Be diligent in whatever you do, work hard and find fulfillment in that. Don’t do it to fund some grand lifestyle, or you’ll find yourself with a huge income and looking poor.
Learn to be content, and be willing to live a life that the world might think looks poor, but is filled with the riches of fulfillment and God’s blessings–the ones that really matter, not fast cars and big houses. He wants you to live life to the full, and it isn’t found on “easy street”, it’s a narrow path that is traveled far too seldom. Make it your path, and stick to it!