Proverbs 28:19-23 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 28:19-23, which read,

v.19 - He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.

We start with a man who is working the land.  He is at work providing food for himself, his family, and the community around him.  He is actively doing something that has shown in the past an increase that benefits others.  The second man is not working the land.  He is at work following something that doesn't have a track record.  It is not that you can't do something new but the description is the pursuit is empty, meaning it doesn't have even a future outlook to it.  This man will find himself in poverty even though he is living in the land of the plenty.  

Does this proverb remind you of the parable Jesus told of the Prodigal Son?  Instead of working his father's land, the younger son asks for his inheritance and goes to a far off land to follow empty pursuits.  Soon he is without resources because he hasn't used them to till the land and he finds himself in a land of plenty but having nothing to eat but what he was feeding the pigs.  This is when he comes to his senses and decides to come back home with a humble heart to serve his father.  It kind of makes me think of Jesus walking the earth and thinking of this proverb and saying to Himself, "Well, let's try a story this time to get the point across."  

v.20 - A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.

The Bible gives us many phrases and concepts that we remake with words of our day.  This proverb includes the idea of the "get rich quick" schemes of infomercial television and internet click bait ads.  The faithful man receives blessings because he has been faithful.  He has been tilling the ground.  He has been following His Father's lead.  I end my radio broadcast each week with, "...and may you receive the blessings of God as you live your life to the glory of God."  The key word is that little two letter word "as."

The other man is taking short cuts.  The other man is cutting corners.  The other man is thinking only of the wealth and not the process of producing it in a godly way.  His end will be punishment.  He will feel the consequences.  It is like the old story about the apprentice who was working for the master carpenter and producing good quality homes.  The master was impressed and offered him the profit of the next home as a bonus.  The apprentice sought to make that profit great so he cut corners on materials and made it just pass code with some hidden errors behind the walls that no one would see.  He bought inferior windows and used cheap paint.  At the end of the project it looked like a good house but underneath were problems lurking to emerge in time.  The master came to give the apprentice the profits of the build but it didn't come in the form the apprentice expected.  The master carpenter handed him the keys of the house to be his own.  I always thought a better ending would be to say that this was now to be the master carpenter's home.  Live with that!  

v.21 - To show partiality is not good, because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.

Here is another message of our day.  To show partiality is to be prejudice toward another or to take advantage of another for your profit.  We have a man who is using others to gain even the essentials of life, bread, in an ungodly way.  He is taking a bribe of bread!  He is showing favor to someone because of what that person can get for him.  I have found that when you cater to someone for the purpose of their thinking better of you it ends up with you thinking less of yourself.

James, the half brother of Jesus, picks up this proverb in the lesson about the treatment of the rich and poor coming into the house of assembly.  One receives the good seats because they have something others want and the other receives a spot of the floor because they perceive that they have nothing to offer.  James says in James 2:9,

"But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."

James knew his Proverbs well.  Read James 2:1-13 to get the whole lesson.

v.22 - A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want will come upon him.

We have a man with an evil eye.  He is looking at the wrong thing.  He is plotting his agenda that includes unholy practices.  He is running after something, wealth, that has an end.  He thinks that the obtaining of wealth will bring him what he wants but he will find himself rather in want of what truly lasts and brings true fulfillment.  His pursuit has actually blinded himself of the truth.  He can see the physical wealth but he can't see God.  

A man with eyes of integrity steadily follows the wisdom of God and knows of the promises that it contains.  He follows the proverbs of God and patterns his life after them.  He experiences not want but blessings as a result of fearing the Lord.  He is very aware of his Creator, Savior, and God. 

v.23 - He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue.

John MacArthur says, "Flattery has no value but reproof does, so it leads to gratitude."  Nobody enjoys rebuke but those who are wise know there is value in receiving it.  A rebuke that keeps our eyes on God when they have wandered away can be a life saver.  The reality is that we tend to hang around people who pat us on the back and never kick us in the butt.  We need both and we need to be both.  God didn't call us to be friends who always use flattery but always to tell the truth in love.  Jesus was encouraging His disciples and He was also appropriately coming down on them about some of their words and actions.  The disciples didn't always take it well but they kept following after Him.  They must have had some gratitude for even the constructive criticism that Jesus gave them.  Look for and be a friend who will risk being uncomfortable at times with each other so that each can be honorable before God.

Work the land, live a life of faithfulness, show no partiality, keep your eyes on the honorable, and be a friend at all times and for all times.  Good proverbs today.  Let us pray.

"Lord, we get lazy and we try to find a short cut and we use others for our gain and we think there might be a better plan and we seek the wrong kind of encouragement.  Help us accept that You have delivered what we need to know and live by and also others who show us by their example and words of truth that are hard to take at times.  May we show gratitude when a holy rebuke comes from a friend.  Amen."

Pastor Adam