Proverbs 28:6-9 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 28:6-9, which read,

v.6 - Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is crooked though he be rich.

This proverb is all about what you value.  If you value being rich over being poor then you will go for it even if it means being a little crooked in your ways and compromising your integrity.  If you value integrity over crookedness then you will hold onto it if you are rich or poor.  The proverb gives us what is "better" in these scenarios.  It is better to value integrity and let your financial situations be based on it rather than being crooked.  Another way to look at this is if you are poor in the world's goods because of integrity then you are rich in God's goods because you are following after Him.  If you want to be rich in something than be rich in God and that takes integrity.

v.7 - He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

This is another comparison proverb or what you value more.  Do you value the law or do you value personal pleasure?  The discerning son who values the law brings honor to his father but the lack of self control son who values instant gratification humiliates his father.  What are you keeping?  Are you keeping what God has said or what your so called friends are saying?  

v.8 - He who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.

Usury is unfair interest charged for loaned money.  What the proverb is saying is that those who get wealthy by the immoral practices of charging more than they should for loaned money will eventually lose it all and it will go back to doing what it was suppose to be doing, caring for the poor.  Many times this practice is illegal and the con artist or corporation gets caught and the fine is very steep.  We do not have the resource of money to just have wealth but to use it for God's glory.  Those resources will eventually be put in the hands of the one who has the heart of God for others.

v.9 - He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

We all pray at times but is there any relationship with God backing those prayers?  Many pray because it is built into us to do so when something tragic happens but many also don't know who they are praying to.  The tragedy of this proverb is the turning away of God's ears to this prayer.  It is detestable to Him.  Isaiah 1:15 says,

"When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen.  Your hands are covered with blood."

The answer comes in verse 16 and 17, which read,

"Wash yourselves.  Cleanse yourselves.  Remove your evil deeds from my sight.  Stop doing evil.  Learn to do what is good.  Pursue justice.  Correct the oppressor.  Defend the rights of the fatherless.  Plead the widow's cause."

All that takes an ongoing relationship with God.  When you pray you are praying to someone you know.  He is attentive to the prayers of His children.  James 5:16 says,

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect."

What do you value?  Do you value being rich even at the cost of your integrity or do you value your integrity with God no matter your financial situation?  Do you value personal pleasure even though it brings others disgrace or do you value what brings them honor by valuing the laws of God?  Do you seek only what your eyes see or do you value what God sees, those in need of someone to show His love?  Do you value your relationship with God so that you will spend time focused on Him or do you value yourself so much that when you get in a jam you have a God who you don't know doesn't respond?  A lot of value statements to think about this morning.  Let us pray.

"Lord, again we need these side by side statements to see what we are doing to ourselves.  We grab onto the fulfillment of being rich.  We latch onto the instant gratification at any cost.  We adopt the practices and priorities of the world to our own ruin.  We miss out on a relationship with You that brings real help to others in need.  So much goes wrong when we don't have Your value system.  Correct us Lord, I pray.  Amen."

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlie...
Read more

God gave us a good weather window to travel...yeah God!!!

Image
  Berthoud Pass Here we are at the top of Berthoud Pass.  It was a whirlwind week to conduct a " hand off " service in Wisconsin on 3/17 and then preach a Palm Sunday sermon in Colorado on 3/24.  We give God all the glory for this happening.  So there are two video links at the bottom of this blog.  One is for the Wisconsin service and the other is for the Colorado service.  I racked up over 12,000 in the last 7 weeks.   I love to take these pictures sitting from the front row of chairs and listening to the one God has provided for the church I had been serving for 20 months.  I now have 3 and I am so thankful for the opportunity God gave us to serve Him in this type of ministry over the last 5 years.  It has been great to add to our daily prayer list Zach in Maine, Chris in Ohio and now Stephen in Wisconsin. This was our set up for the 2000+ mile trip.  No " hiccups " except for the strong eastern winds in Kansas.  Of course e...
Read more

Resurrection Sunday in a new space...Matthew 27.62-28.20

Image
  Resurrection Sunday has come and gone but it was a sweet day to be with the gathered saints of the Stillwater Community Chapel .  We are venturing through the Gospel of Matthew and this Sunday will take us back to Matthew 1.1 but last Sunday we were in Matthew 27.62-28.20.  It was a lot to cover so the white board was truly a help to keep me on track.  This year in my Resurrection Sunday message, I focused on the contrast of the cover-up story of the disciples stealing the body of Jesus fueled by a bride and the commission of speaking of a risen Lord fueled by boldness . After the service upstairs, we ventured downstairs to the lower level and had a great meal together.  The conversations around the tables allowed us to continue to talk about the passage of Scripture we covered upstairs.  Maybe this is a very informal picture of what happens at the  Waushara Community Church called the " Going Deeper " classes of the Come For More hour following t...
Read more