Proverbs 20:1-4 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 20:1-4, which read,

v.1 - Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

Solomon is going to address the issue of those things that can cloud our senses and therefore our decisions on following after God.  Alcohol is one of those things when it is not controlled very closely.  Alcohol is not the only thing that can do this.  We can be intoxicated by many different things other than being intoxicated of God and His wisdom.  The point is that being intoxicated by something else changes us and we can go from it being unwise to actually physically and mentally hurting others.  To be intoxicated is to go astray with something and therefore if we go astray from the wisdom of God it is not wise.  

v.2 - The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion; he who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

What are other ways that we can go astray?  One that Solomon has brought up a couple times is not obeying the governmental authorities over us.  We take in account that the governmental authorities are doing what God has ordained them to do with rewarding the right and punishing the wrong.  The authorities, when operating under God's direction, have use of the sword of justice so they have the ability to punish those who are doing wrong.  It is unwise to do things in opposition to the laws of the land that are in accordance with God's words.  A note is that when a king or government gets out of step with God's commands and His purpose for government then we stand with God.

v.3 - Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, but any fool will quarrel.

Another way to go astray is to be one who spends his or her time quarreling rather than living an obedient life.  We are instructed to live a quiet life that is obeying God.  The quiet life doesn't mean that we will never speak out about evil but it means that when we do it, it comes from a life that has been quietly living out the life God wants us to live.  We seek resolution and we focus on being right with God rather than being quarrelsome to get our own way which is usually less than following after God's way.  We keep away from strife by living a holy life that knows what to do with sin as well with how we relate to one another.  Do you quarrel or do you strive to listen to God's instruction before opening your mouth?

v.4 - The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, so he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

Apparently the standard or wise practice was to plow after the autumn harvest had been brought in to prepare the fields for the next planting.  The sluggard, the lazy one, does not do this but takes a break after the harvest and figures that he or she will get to that later and therefore it is put off until spring.  Now they are behind the eight ball.  This affects the next harvest and their fields have not produced as much as they could have or maybe nothing at all because of their slackness.  They have to resort to begging because of their lazy actions.

Solomon loves word pictures to get his point across.  How many times have you or I completed something that was big and you and I know that something should follow to keep this going but we put it off until later?  It could be something that we need to do or that we need to say.  Because of that lack of action we find ourselves not prepared for what is coming next.  We find ourselves scrambling to complete something and that scrambling could have been avoided.  We find ourselves not as prepared as we could have been and now we have less time because we are working around the clock instead of working ahead to have breathing room when it counts the most.  

We usually thing of a task to be completed here but I think we can look at the relationships we have around us also.  When we don't plow in those relationships when there needs to be plowing and we let it go when we should have be investing more then we find ourselves later suffering from that lack of attention to nurture what we have.  We start to play catch up and sometimes relationships are less forgiving than the land.  How I wish I could get back some times when I should have been plowing with another rather than putting it off until later.  The relationship suffered because of my laziness.  Ouch!  Let us pray.

"Lord some good reminders of ways that we can go astray.  May we only be intoxicated by You and when we find our judgment clouded by something else to realize it is too much of that.  May we not go astray by living a life that mocks the authority that you have put over us to protect us and provide justice.  May we not go astray by keeping our conversations to those that seek to resolve rather than those that seek to just quarrel.  May we not go astray by our laziness to the tasks at hand and start working from behind and suffering the consequences that we would have avoided by plowing when we need to plow.  Amen."

Pastor Adam