Plymothian

Differing weights and differing measures—
    the Lord detests them both.
11 Even small children are known by their actions,
    so is their conduct really pure and upright?

12 Ears that hear and eyes that see—
    the Lord has made them both.

Do You See What God Sees?

People are sneaky.  They can communicate a different ‘reality’ from reality.  The idea of dishonest scales is repeated in scripture because it was a strong temptation for a financially astute nation to shave a little more off the edges through corruption.  In many cases, like the notorious tax collectors of the New Testament, the corruption was known.  In some carefully laid out plans, a person could appear honest and upright but be secretly deceptive.  It is easy to keep a little for ourselves if we really want to. We can alleviate guilt by telling ourselves it is justice that we get a little more ‘appreciation’.  Dishonesty is dishonesty.  God calls it as he sees it, not how we do.  The result is that we live in a kind of hell, separated from God when we embrace deception.

Questions

1. What two things does the LORD detest?
2. How is being young not an excuse for immoral and unethical choices?
3. Why are people of every age known more for what they do rather than what they say?
4. Why do people today often talk a different life than they act?
5. How can the internal life of the heart and the external world of actions be harmonized in your life?

The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters,
    but one who has insight draws them out.

6 Many claim to have unfailing love,
    but a faithful person who can find?
7 The righteous lead blameless lives;
    blessed are their children after them.
8 When a king sits on his throne to judge,
    he winnows out all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure;
    I am clean and without sin”?

Actions Show Intent

Selfless actions are rare and precious.  Sometimes people do things that cost them and for which they can receive no reward.  Often people play a game at being ‘nice’ so that if they scratch others’ backs, their back will in turn be scratched.  In this internet age we can realise our dreams of anonymity.  We can be the fly on the wall, we can be hidden behind a false name and so the true corruption in our hearts is easy to know.  Some people who see our public persona think us virtuous and kind, but in private we descend into darkness.  The key to a good heart is the pursuit of God.  God cleanses and reforms our lives from the inside out.  It is a process and not a single event.  However, when we look at a life with God we should see cleaner and purer motives over the years. 

Questions

1. What does a person of understanding draw out of others?
2. Who are blessed by a righteous man?
3. How can eyes winnow out evil?
4. Why are so many people ‘nice’ in ways that are actually dark?
5. Why has selflessness become less popular?

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
    whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
2 A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion;
    those who anger him forfeit their lives.
3 It is to one’s honor to avoid strife,
    but every fool is quick to quarrel.
4 Sluggards do not plow in season;
    so at harvest time they look but find nothing.

Drunken Mess

Medicinenet.com claims the following:

Just a few of the many dangerous effects of alcohol use in teens include the following:

Alcohol decreases teens’ ability to pay attention.

Teens who have experienced alcohol withdrawal tend to have difficulties with memory. 

In contrast to adults, teens tend to abuse alcohol with other substances, usually marijuana. 

Male teens who drink heavily tend to complete fewer years of education compared to male teens who do not. 

The younger a person is when they begin drinking, the more likely they are to develop a problem with alcohol. 

Each year, almost 2,000 people under the age of 21 years die in car crashes in which underage drinking is involved. Alcohol is involved in nearly half of all violent deaths involving teens. 

More than three times the number of eighth-grade girls who drink heavily said they have attempted suicide compared to girls in that grade who do not drink. 

Intoxication is associated with suicide attempts using more lethal methods, and positive blood alcohol levels are often found in people who complete suicide. 

Teens who drink are more likely to engage in sexual activity, have unprotected sex, have sex with a stranger, or be the victim or perpetrator of a sexual assault. 

Excess alcohol use can cause or mask other emotional problems, like anxiety or depression.

Drinking in excess can lead to the use of other drugs, like marijuana, cocaine, or heroin.

Talking to children about wisdom and orienting their lives toward God might help in many ways.

Questions

1. What does drunken binging bring?
2. What is a fool quick to do?
3. What does a sluggard ironically look for at harvest?
4. What percentages of youth do you think drink in your neighbourhood?
5. What does alcohol promise that God actually delivers?

Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence;
    rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge.
26 Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother
    is a child who brings shame and disgrace.

27 Stop listening to instruction, my son,
    and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice,
    and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
29 Penalties are prepared for mockers,
    and beatings for the backs of fools.

Children Who Are Mockers

Usually younger children are not mockers.  It seems to be somewhere near the teens that many, not all, children test their ideas and push the boundaries.  Some parents resist with reactive rage or arguments that are soaked in fear.  Others find the wisdom to hold to the truth of what they say, listen to their angst-ridden teen, and provide unconditional love.  If we have already communicated the truths of Proverbs, they will be there in the head of the teen when they calm down.  Some parenting just deals with each day as it comes.  However, the best parenting educates for the next stage.  While children are young and obedient, we can fill them with knowledge that will still be in their heads when their peers think adults are jerks, and their bodies tell them things they are ashamed of.

Questions

1. How should mocking be engaged?
2. What kind of son turns against their parents and makes them destitute?
3. How could a devout believer make sure they are always receiving instruction?
4. Why does it seem that each generation of teens has less respect for their parents?
5. How does today’s society reinforce the ideas that parents are adversaries?

Laziness brings on deep sleep,
    and the shiftless go hungry.

²⁴ A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he will not even bring it back to his mouth!

Sluggards and Discipline

The Protestant Work Ethic, for which America has been well known, is caught from parents while their children are in school. “In the European Journal of Social Psychology in August 2009 that showed it takes 66 days to form a habit. Given the results of that study, it’s no wonder developing good work habits is a daunting challenge for parents – and students. (Wholestudent.com)”  So a sluggard is usually the result of a parent who can not develop a consistent habit with their child.  I think that many parents are working hard and so they find it hard to develop a positive attitude toward laying down a disciplined approach to study and housework.  Some fathers and mothers do not know how to study well themselves and some parents do not know how to keep a home running.  It would be good for such parents to seek advice.  Some, deep down, just can’t be bothered.  If we want our children to work in the ways that God has designed them to, we have to instil good study habits in them while they are in school.

Questions

1. How can a poor attitude squander the resources a family has?
2. How would Hebrew parents possibly train children up with a diligent attitude to those less fortunate?
3. How does allowing your child to ‘find their own way’ kill them?
4. Why do parents excuse their children as ‘free spirits’ when in fact they are ill-disciplined?
5. Why do you think so many parents believe that their child is strong willed?  How can parents step up and ‘be the parent’?

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
    how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!

¹⁴ Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
    but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

Fools, Rules, and Wives

We can be surrounded by all the creature comforts that the 21st century will allow, but that is nothing compared to the people with whom we share them.  This century more than any other offers various forms of escape and indulgence.  It is this lure that, I think, is leading to shallow lives of sensate obsession.  We are forever like babies who want something nice in their mouths to chew on, but who think very little beyond the immediate circumstances in which we find ourselves.    Rulers want us to consume.  Spouses want to buy the latest gadget or make another material improvement.  The pursuit of these things becomes an end in itself.  Within the home especially, the role of a spouse is to pursue God.  It is our role to be an inspiration and not to demand that we be inspired by beautiful things that just serve a secondary function.  Let’s not be a nagging spouse, let’s be an inspirational one.

Questions

1. When a person is offended what is the wise response?
2. Describe in your own words what a nagging spouse is like?
3. How much control does one really have over how their spouse turns out?
4. How is God’s grace central to an harmonious home?
5. How can you develop regular reflections of gratitude about your domestic life?

Better the poor whose walk is blameless
    than a fool whose lips are perverse.

From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled;
    with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.

²⁴ One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Rewards for Speech

Friendship and marriage are enhanced by affirming words.  Of course, touch, gifts, quality time and acts of service also factor, but the emphasis in this passage is on speech.  You get direct results from the kind of speech that you use.  If you create a safe place and respond lovingly to unlovely acts, you will get a safer and warmer relationship in response.  If you respond with throwing as much hurt and bad history at the other person you will likely ruin the relationship over time.  If we love to work with our words and to avoid being thoughtless and rash, the fruit of our efforts will be sweet.

If you are isolated and alone, odds are that you have not opened up and been vulnerable.  In protecting yourself you can become a rock or an island.  It is not a way to find a soul mate.  It is not a way to create a friendship that is intimate and special.  If you find someone that you can share your deepest thoughts with, that trust might be returned.  You may find the kind of friend that people find seldom in a lifetime.

Questions

1. What is the fruit of well chosen words?
2. What does a spouse bring?
3. What is the difference between companionship and friendship according to this passage?
4. How does this passage warn against superficial friendships with flighty people?
5. How do you cultivate a descriptive and powerful vocabulary?

To answer before listening—
    that is folly and shame.

One who is slack in his work
    is brother to one who destroys.

¹² Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.

Safety

People want to be safe, but there is only one place that is eternally possible.  In our myopic scope of daily chores, it is easy to see that safety and security may feel like they come and go.  Christians are killed regularly in Sudan and Christians in America feel increasingly unwelcome in the public forum.  However, whether we are talking emotionally or physically, the spiritual reality is that we are safe in God’s hands when we put our faith in him.  He may choose to let us come home to heaven, but he will give us the strength to make that transition.  We are never isolated and alone.  We are alwayss fully accepted as we are.  He is in control.

Questions

1. What can destroy?
2. What comes before a downfall?
3. What is a fortress for God’s people?
4. In what ways do people seek security that will ultimately lead to ruin?
5. How can desire to control ourselves and others actually lead to ruin?