Proverbs 21: 5 – 10

Someone said, ‘It took me many years to become an overnight success!’

(5) ‘The only place where success comes before work is in the Dictionary.’ Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind. Work hard at thinking through where you are going; what you are going to do. Don’t rush at things in an ill-considered manner. I remember a popular fun song from my childhood days: ‘’ ‘Right,’ said Fred.’’ In it there was this comment: ‘The problem with Fred is he’s too hasty, and you don’t get nowhere if you’re too hasty.’

(6; see Prov. 10:2; 19:1) Ill-gotten gains will not last. Make it to the top by lying and cheating; get paid with smoke and a promotion – to death! The Message.

(7) This proverb makes a similar point to the preceding one: crime doesn’t pay. The violent are dragged off violently; they reap what they sow. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. The wicked get buried alive by their loot because they refuse to use it to help others. The Message.

(8) There have been leaders in the church (no doubt there still are) who have stooped to devious, manipulative ways to push through their own agenda. The devious path is not the godly route.  The Lord’s people are to be upright in all their ways. This means being straightforward and having no guile (John 1:47) Mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight down the road. The Message.

(9) Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack than share a mansion with a nagging spouse. The Message. There is something beautiful about marital harmony. Conversely, as someone once observed in my hearing, ‘It must be hell to be married to the wrong person.’ That might be overstated, but not much. It is an unhappy situation to live in a war zone; to be continually at loggerheads with your life’s partner. It would be better to stay single than marry the wrong man or woman.

(10) Wicked souls love to make trouble; they feel nothing for friends and neighbours. I heard a great message given by Doctor Henry Cloud. It was entitled, ‘Wise people, foolish people and wicked people.’ Doctor Cloud pointed out that ‘Proverbs’ introduces us to all three. There are ‘wicked’ people in this world who care about no-one but themselves. You can love them, pray for them and endeavour to share the gospel message with them. But it’s best to put plenty of distance between you and them for the most part. You don’t want to spend over much time with them, normally speaking. They are toxic; a danger to your soul.

Prayer: Lord, help me to love all people, but choose friends and companions wisely. May I not become rotten because of who I am in close contact with in life’s ‘fruit bowl.’