Proverbs 26
I would offer that the word love is not a verb, it is a noun. It is not a thing you do. It is the light that you are made of and what you were created to be.
Foolish and Lazy
1 Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.
3 Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back!
4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.
6 Trusting a fool to convey a message is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
8 Honoring a fool is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
9 A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.
10 An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots at random.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.
12 There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.
13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”
14 As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed.
15 Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.
16 Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.
17 Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.
18 Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon 19 is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”
20 Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.
21 A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.
22 Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart.
23 Smooth words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a clay pot.
24 People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they’re deceiving you. 25 They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils. 26 While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, their wrongdoing will be exposed in public.
27 If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.
28 A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause ruin. (NLT)
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insights
Proverbs 26:4-5
This chapter focuses on the foolish and lazy people in our world. Foolishness is addressed first.
I chose to look deeper into two consecutive verses that totally contradict each other, yet both are wise. I am reminded of a commercial where the frazzled mother calmly states, “You have to choose your battles.”
What it really comes down to is that there are some confrontations that aren’t worth having. It is foolish to think we can convince fools to choose wisely, but if we do not challenge them on some level, it will seem, to the foolish, that we have approved of their foolishness, thus giving them validation.
Beware of becoming an enabler for foolish and lazy people. To quote popular comedian Ron White, “You can’t fix stupid.”
Proverbs 26:13-16
The book of Proverbs speaks much about laziness. Terms like “sluggard” paint a picture of extreme laziness. It may be one of the plagues of our generation.
We are called to help the poor, but when government programs are structured to reward people who can work for not working, foolish and lazy politicians may be encouraging the recipients to more foolish and lazy behavior. What we need are more programs that “teach a man to fish” while reserving welfare for those who cannot work.
To take it a step further, for those who do work, with all of the busyness thrust upon us there is a certain attraction to, or even lust for time to do nothing at all.
There is an abundance of commentary on the subject, which should not surprise us. With so much to choose from, I could have easily included an entire page of videos on laziness, but I finally selected one rather sarcastic and edgy video, that drives the point home.
Proverbs26:23
The truth is easily hidden by those who have learned to tell a convincing tale. In politics it is called “spin” and among thieves and scam artists we call it a con game. It is not a game at all, but these are the “socially responsible” and “politically correct” terms for lies, lest we offend the liars.
As a society, we have grown to expect, and accept, being lied to by those who hold positions of power and authority. We tolerate them straddling the fence between their lies and the truth. I wonder when and how our complacency replaced the high ideals of America’s founding fathers.
Revelation 3:15-16 shows clearly what the perspective of the triune God is. To the church at Laodicea, John is instructed to send this message. ” I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!”
The truth is not something to be danced around, nor are grave errors in judgement and personal power agendas to be rationalized and made more palatable to the public. The truth should be demanded and leadership should be held accountable for their actions. I fear that the beauty of America has become only skin deep, and their is much ugliness and corruption at her core.
I pray that wisdom will prevail, and in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
lynnibug
