Plymothian

¹³ A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,
    a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges,
    so a sluggard turns on his bed.
¹⁵ A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶ A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven people who answer discreetly.

Sluggard

There is always a reason isn’t there?  Why do we always have an excuse?  We don’t get fit because we are tired from looking after the kids.  We don’t cook a dinner because we have had a hard day at work.  We don’t cycle to work because it takes so long.  We don’t have a conversation with someone because we don’t want to make them feel bad.  These reason appear good, but we miss the better plan of making something exceptional happen.  If we can’t get moving we should seek and see if God can inspire us to move beyond our false selves and into something more substantial.

Questions

1. List attributes of a sluggard.
2. What other names could be used for a sluggard?
3. Why would God be opposef to a sluggard?
4. What excuses do people give for not doing things?
5. What is your best excuse?

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
    honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
    an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and a rod for the backs of fools!
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.
6 Sending a message by the hands of a fool
    is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.
7 Like the useless legs of one who is lame
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 Like tying a stone in a sling
    is the giving of honor to a fool.
9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 Like an archer who wounds at random
    is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
    so fools repeat their folly.
12 Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?
    There is more hope for a fool than for them.

Fool

What is a fool?  How do you handle a fool?  Why not play the fool?  What if a person doesn’t see they are a fool?  These questions are addressed in the beginning of chapter 26.  Of course, the definition of ‘fool’ is vastly different than our present day one.  In our present day, a wise person is one who gets good results.  By good, we tend to think financially beneficial or materially rewarding. Even a spouse is reduced from a helpmeet to a commodity.  men trade theirs in if she ceases to look good, women trade theirs in in they cease to feel good.  A truly wise person has insight that goes beyond the material or commercial.  A truly wise person does not focus on not-being the fool, but uses warnings about foolishness to focus on God.  He is the author of wisdom.

Questions

1. Why not be a fool?
2. Which two verses contradict each other?  Why?
3. What is the biblical idea of a ‘fool’?
4. How do you view ‘wise’ and ‘foolish’?
5. How could you be wiser today?

27 It is not good to eat too much honey,
    nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep.
28 Like a city whose walls are broken through
    is a person who lacks self-control.

Know When to Stop

There are those who feel that they just have to know.  If they sniff out that there is more to a story, they will dig in the dirt until they find it.  Sometimes such people unearth destructive truths that are best left undisturbed.  I am thinking of situations like Jean Valjean.  In Les Miserables he has reformed his life, but a persistent law officer wants to dig up a past that he has left behind.

Also, there are those in real life who would rather know everything than show discernment.  In fact, there is a misconception that truly romantic couples tell each other every thought.  In a perfect world there are no faults to be known, in our flawed world our insecurities mean that we can only accept so much truth about an individual.  On days when they think we are fat, disagreeable, or obnoxious it is probably better that we are unaware of it until that day has passed.

Questions

1. What is it not good to do?
2. Why is gossip or inside information like honey?
3. How can too much information harm a relationship?
4. When a person starts to reveal something, do you have to have them reveal the rest or can you let them stop short?
5. How could you discern whether you truly need to know more information about a topic or person?

25 Like cold water to a weary soul
    is good news from a distant land.
26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted well
    are the righteous who give way to the wicked.

Don’t Back Down

Recent writing has said how gentle persistence could wear down a hard leader.  A gentle answer does turn away wrath.  However, there are also times when a person has to make a stand.  When something is done that is wrong, it can not be called right.  When someone is leading a group into danger, it can not be called a safe path.  When someone pretends that they agree with wrong or evil, they have made a serious error.  What happens is that the good of the godly person becomes mixed with error and misconception.  The result of the compromise is not good – when evil is mixed with anything the overall concoction is toxic.  The problem becomes how to deal with a world where toxic sin has been mixed in with everything.  We need the grace to deal with others who are sinful like us, but we need the strength to resist making the toxicity more potent.

Questions

1. What is like cold water?
2. What is the danger of polluted well water?
3. What is the danger of giving in to a person who is wrong?
4. How confident are you in your own opinions?
5. How could you know when to give in and when to stand firm?

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
    if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
    and the Lord will reward you.

Love Your Enemy

The New Testament builds on the Old.  In Romans 12 it warns against getting your own back on those who have wronged you.  Note how the verses for today are quoted verbatim.

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 Questions

1. How do people justify revenge?
2. Why should we give good things to enemies?
3. What good things could you give someone who has a grudge against you?
4. Which movies or books tell stories of great revenge (e.g. The Count of Monte Cristo)?
5. Why would a person forego a chance of getting their own back?

18 Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow
    is one who gives false testimony against a neighbor.
19 Like a broken tooth or a lame foot
    is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.
20 Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day,
    or like vinegar poured on a wound,
    is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

 Emotional Consequences of Foolishness

I have seen reports that say today’s generations are becoming more and more immediate and sensate.  What does that mean?  They want it all and they want it now.  In a democracy, they get to vote for having it all now.  They think that they should have dessert first.  Then, still being hungry, they order dessert.  The results for the future are bleak.  When people who chose to party get old, they look old, they get lung cancer, they wheeze as they carry a little shopping.  They feel awful as a whole.  Those who sleep their way around te world die aone.  The Rock Star Icon that we have created is incredibly selfish and incredibly lonely.  Although I am not generally an Adam Sandler movie fan, the movie Funny People (2009) shows the tragic side of having it all.  Those who rely on Adam Sandler’s selfish comedian find that they to have their lives hurt and damaged.  In this celebrity world, though, it is not Jesus who is held up as the icon to be like but the Bachelorette, or Ozzy and Sharon.

Questions

1. What is relying on someone who is untrustworthy compared?
2. Is the passage warning against being untrustworthy or warning against trusting the untrustworthy?
3. How do people become undependable?
4. On a scale of 1-10 how dependable would people say that you are?
5. Do you depend on those who are not dependable?  What if you are married to someone whose habits are not dependable? 

If you find honey, eat just enough—
too much of it, and you will vomit.
¹⁷ Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house—
too much of you, and they will hate you.

A Needy Friend

Codependency, or overdependency  is not good.  In such a relationship both people feel like they are getting something from the relationship.  One plays at being the parent and the other plays at being a child.  Ultimately, both people find too much security in one relationship which masks their deep insecurities.  Even the ‘adult’ in the codependent relationship needs to be needed.  This is why they allow an overdependent person to leech away their time and energy.  There is an appropriate amount of time to give to insecure friends, but some friends are looking for a saviour and lack the maturity to go to God directly.  We enable them to avoid growing up when we let them camp in our kitchen and tell us the same woes again and again.  Remember Jesus turned some people away by revelaing to them their lack of desire for radical change.

In the verses above, a godly person is secure enough in the LORD to visit friends in rotation rather than camp with one friend.  If you have one very intimate and exclusive relationship, even with your spouse, it might be time to ask why.

Questions

1. With what is a friendship compared?
2. How often do you think ancient Jewish people visited each other?
3. How often is too often when visiting friends?
4. When do you feel a friend overstays their welcome?
5. How can increased security with God foster more healthy relationships?

Through patience a ruler can be persuaded,
    and a gentle tongue can break a bone. 

Water or Stone

There is a brute strength that gets its way through domination and opposition.  It is the strength of Dodge Ram commercials and the attitude of many sports stars.  Those whom it dominates resent it.  Those who wield such strength are corrupted by wielding it.  However, there is another strength that takes the good of those around it and maximizes it.  It empowers rather than kills.  It allows others to have a good idea.  In not having to win, it wins.  It is the subtle strength of water which reshapes rock through years of patiently allowing itself to modify its course.

Questions

1. What breaks a bone?
2. How can gentleness be so powerful?
3. Why would the king be given as an example of one whose mind is difficult to change?
4. Who do you know who exerts power on those around them?
5. How can gentle and selfless persistance bring about a good affect in your life and those around you?

¹³ Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time
    is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him;
    he refreshes the spirit of his master.
¹⁴ Like clouds and wind without rain
    is one who boasts of gifts never given.

I was at Sugarbuzz coffee shop in McHenry yesterday and they were interviewing people.  They were being quite thorough and they said they have decided to put new employees through a 1 month probation period.  They have had a number of employees promise that they will work early mornings and work hard, only to stand around and stare blankly when it is slow and refuse to work many early morning shifts.  It must be as refreshing as a caramel frappuccino on a blisteringly hot day to find an employee who works for a coffee shop and takes the job seriously and puts in a lot of effort. 

A godly person will see that putting their best forth in a job is important.  However, an employer is the one in view here.  When we find someone who works well for us, we should give that person a lot or praise and responsibility.  The usual in ancient times was to find people who promise much and deliver little.  If Sugarbuzz is anything to go by, the situation is still the same among the youth.

Questions

1. What does the author find refreshing?
2. To what does the author compare his find?
3. What drink do you find refreshing?
4. When are you responsible for building a team or hiring people?
5. What were the qualities of your best employees  or volunteers?

¹¹ Like apples^[b] of gold in settings of silver     is a ruling rightly given. ¹² Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold     is the rebuke of a wise judge to a listening ear.

Don’t Rush to Judgement

People who like to get things done can also jump to conclusions.  This is true in marriage, work, and church.  We can assign motives and decide what a person is like without bothering to continue to talk with them.  We can take the little bit of information that we do know and invent information that we don’t.  Also, we do not allow people to change.  People can be redeemed.  They can become new people, but if we write them off too quickly, we deprive them of their chance of redemption.

Questions

1. Which sensory information should we be cautious about acting upon?
2. What should we not betray?
3. Was a person generally slow or quick to rush to court?
4. How fast are you to rush to judgement?
5. How can decisions be made at an appropriate pace?