Proverbs 10:5-8 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 10:5-8, which read,

v.5 - He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

Remember that the wise son makes a father glad but a foolish son is a grief to his mother.  How do they make glad or be a grief?  One way is their ethical or nonethical practices of producing gain.  Another is their negligent or diligent hands toward God's instruction.  Here is an agricultural example that Solomon gives to his sons about being wise or foolish.

The wise see the timing of the harvest.  He is about gathering instead of sleeping as the foolish is doing.  The wise is aware of the time of the year it is and what needs to be done ahead of time.  The foolish is sleeping on the job and the harvest comes upon them as a surprise and usually blames someone or something else for the lack of outcome of the event.  It is shameful to not be aware of your surroundings and be reacting to them in a proactive and timely manner.  God will bring you something to harvest.  Will you be ready to gather or will He find you sleeping?

v.6 - Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

Here is another contrast or opposite style proverb to demonstrate the difference between the wise and the foolish.  The wise or righteous has a focus on their head or better yet using their head to be following after the wisdom of God and therefore they receive blessings.  The foolish or wicked has a focus on their mouth or better yet using their tongue to rationalize or excuse away not following after the wisdom of God and therefore it results in revealing their true motive to do harm.  The wise use their head and the foolish use their tongue.

v.7 - The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.

Again the focus of the wise in on the mind and what they are storing in their memory.  It is full of thoughts and activities that are to the glory to God.  Remember the passage in Philippians to "think on these things."  The focus of the foolish here is his name.  Name means everything about that person and so all of the foolish will result in decay.  Their thoughts and actions that are upon themselves will not bring a state of blessedness but rather a state of a downward spiral.  When someone thinks of the wise they will remember something good but when someone thinks of the foolish they will struggle to think of anything good that has come from him or her.

v.8 - The wise of heart will receive commands, but a babbling fool will be ruined.

To receive commands you must listen and that is what the wise do.  The foolish are not listening but rather running at the mouth.  The wise take in themselves, into their hearts, the commands of God to apply to their everyday life.  The foolish are about speaking and giving out instruction of their own wisdom and it leads to ruin.  These 4 verses have really established that common thought of the wise using their heads and the foolish using their tongues.

Are you a talker or a listener when it comes to the counsel of God?  Are you listening to the Scripture or are you talking back at it?  Are you listening to God's counsel through His family that He has placed around you or are you not listening because you are always talking about your point of view?  Are you using your mind to look at the larger picture that God has put you in to bring in a harvest for Him or are you selfishly sleeping on the job of caring for those who He has placed around you to love?  The proverbs say that the wise will receive blessings and be blessed as they receive commands and gather for the Lord.  The foolish will rot and be of ruin as they speak of themselves and sleep on what the Lord commands.  Let's pray.

"Lord, what a contrasting view today of the wise and foolish.  Thank You for the head and tongue illustration.  I pray to use my head, thinking and ears to keep focus on Your instruction for a harvest is before me to work in.  I pray also to see when I am babbling about myself and using my tongue instead of my head and missing Your harvest that brings such blessings.  Amen."

Pastor Adam