Read Proverbs 30
If you were faithful in your daily
reading, you might have had some questions about people and terms. You might have done your own research. You might have waited until now thinking I
did my reading, Tom can tell me what all this new stuff is.
Agur son of Jakeh is not really
addressed anywhere else. He may be included in the men of Hezekiah (Proverbs
25:1).
Ithiel is mentioned in Nehemiah
11:7. What does that tell us? This is the time of the return from Babylon
and Ithiel lived in Jerusalem.
Ucal means I am strong, but we
have no other reference as to who he was or what he did.
The next chapter brings us to King
Lemuel, also with no other reference, and some suspect a pseudonym for Solomon,
perhaps so he could use another voice.
What do we glean from this? Some of
these proverbs postdate Solomon by a few centuries.
We also come upon terms that we just
don’t’ use these days. Hyraxes is one.
Some might call it a Shrewmouse. I’m sure that helped a lot. It’s a plant-eating (using molars, not
incisors) mammal that acts like it’s cold-blooded as it regulates its own body
temperature poorly compared to other warm-blooded creatures. It is not a ruminant but has a divided
stomach, hence references in Deuteronomy to chewing its cud.
Here is Tom’s composite. A cross between a rabbit and a badger that
huddles together like a bunch of snakes for warmth while chewing its cud.
The He Goat is easier to figure
out. It’s a male goat given to head butting. And no, my picture does not accompany the
definition in the dictionary, yet. There is some interesting stuff in this
chapter, so let’s get to it.
We won’t cover it all, but we will
take a slice from verses
7-9.
We are blessed to live as we do. Some have more than others, but we all seem
to have enough. We know many who don’t
have enough. Often, we help them. Some are near and some are far away.
We are blessed to be able to help.
Have you ever wished that you would
win the lottery? If you won it this
week, you would barely have a million dollars or so a year after tithe and
taxes. Is it even worth it? Who could get by on that?
Most of you might be thinking, “I
would give it a try.”
Have you ever wondered what you would
do if you were out of work and homeless?
What if you had a family? Would
you steal to provide for them? Would you steal
to keep from starving?
You might think, “I hope not.” In reality, we might also think, “If it came
to them starving, I’m not sure what I would do.”
Have you ever stopped to think about
how blessed we are to have our daily needs met without venturing too far to
either extreme?
We have enough to provide shelter for
our family. In today’s world that comes
with running water, indoor plumbing, heat, and often air conditioning, not to
mention the things we take for granted such as flipping a switch and we see
darkness turn to light.
We have enough to make our tithe—ten
percent of what we receive in the course of working, social security,
investments, and the like.
We have enough to give our kids a few
bucks for Martha and when the time comes for a goat and two chickens.
Some have enough for our local
help—local benevolence—ministry.
Some have something left to support
the children’s home, which is now officially titled Cumberland Youth and Family
Services.
Some have something left to support
the Western Oklahoma Family Care Center or the Hope Center that help people pay
bills and bring their children to term and deliver new life into the world.
Some of you give to the shoe ministry
that we have been a part of in year’s past.
Some give to St. Jude’s, the American Cancer Society, or even the
Ronald McDonald House.
And of course, we always have
something for the church, school, FFA, or sport of the month fundraiser.
It seems that we have been blessed
with enough to meet our needs and bless others.
Understand how great a blessing that is.
But if I was rich, I could do so much
more than I can now. I’m talking good
stuff, not selfish stuff. That is
correct. If you are a good steward of
what God has blessed you with now, you can be a good steward of whatever else
he sends your way, but understand this.
Increased blessings require increased
focus and stewardship.
To be master over your money requires
more attention and effort as money increases.
Yeah, ok, I guess, what? Why?
On any given day, you could assess
your situation and say, “I’m good. I’ve
got enough. Why do I even need God?”
The words eat, drink, and be merry
might come to mind. Do you know where
these words come from? Try the parable
of the bigger barns.
What is the counsel of this parable?
Jesus said: “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist
in an abundance of possessions.”
I have posed the challenge this
way. Are we rich towards God? What does the
proverb say?
Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and
disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.
We will not say much about keeping
falsehood away. That one is straightforward. Don’t make me have to contend with falsehood
every day. That could read, “Don’t make
me live in the twenty-first century,’ but there has always been an abundance of
falsehood in the world.
We are focusing on living between
poverty and riches in the abundance of daily bread. What did Jesus say when he
modeled prayer for us? Father gives
us what we need just for today.
What is the only day that we can live? It’s today.
We have talked before that there is nothing
wrong with money, so long as you are master over your money. The proverb tells us that a lot of
money—riches if you will—would require an extraordinary effort on our part to
remain master over our money.
Just as debt
reverses the relationship with money, so too can riches. We must be on guard all of the time. Some may
be equipped to stay the course of living a godly life upon receipt of some
windfall. Most might be tempted to eat,
drink, and be merry.
Our message is to understand the
blessing of daily bread—of having our needs met, which includes the need to
bless others.
It’s a little easier to understand not
wanting to live in poverty. We don’t
want to be faced with the decision as whether we would steal or starve. Most here know that God’s people would help
us if we were in dire straits, except that pride—selfish and foolish
pride—kicks in and sometimes persuades us not to ask for help.
For us in this day and this time, we
should pray for eyes to see the blessings of living by daily bread.
Having our daily needs met does not
mean that we do not know struggle and sacrifice. It means that those challenges do not result
in being destitute. We make sacrifices. We brown bag it for six months to save up the
down payment for a car.
We eat out less, so we can send a kid
to college. We sell something we own to
help someone just make it through the month.
We know sacrifice and trials but we do not know poverty.
Our needs are met and those needs
include helping others.
We probably think that we could win
the lottery and bring glory to God every day.
Perhaps you can. It would take a
special effort. It would take the readiness of the first two servants in the Parable
of the Talents. Most people struggle to get ready for the day. Getting ready to bring glory to God every day following a windfall is usually something beyond our grasp.
We probably think if we hit rock bottom,
we would not steal to get by. Maybe we
wouldn’t. Maybe we couldn’t bear to watch our families go without.
We should expect God to continue to
bless us as we seek him and his kingdom and his righteousness; and we should
expect to be called to practice God’s wisdom so we do not end up destitute.
Most of all, we should have eyes to
see the blessings of living by daily bread.
Our needs are met.
We have enough to bless others.
We can leave an inheritance to our
children’s children.
We don’t do debt and are not a slave
to the lender.
Wisdom is not talking about
mediocrity. It is talking about the fulness of life. We can only live this day
but we can live it to the full being known as disciples of Christ Jesus by our
love. We can live fully in our daily provisions.
As you go from this place, consider
the blessings of living by daily bread.
Amen.
