BECOMING A PERSON OTHERS NEED
The book of Proverbs gives us insight into character traits that benefit both us and those around us, especially those we care about. I can remember going to a Christian church with my mother and grandmother two blocks from where we lived in my hometown. We also went to another Christian, small rural, church for a short time in another town, about 6 miles from my hometown, for about a year or so. My grandmother, as I remember, was always going to church and my mother and I would go with her. She was a God-fearing woman and helped me and my mother over many rough times, due to my mother’s divorce. After losing my grandmother to cancer, her influence remained with my mother and me.
In the first 24 chapters of Proverbs, Solomon weaved together basic lessons that served as an instruction manual for fathers to pass down to their children, particularly their sons. He developed the instructions in Proverbs 6 around the theme of character development with regards to practicing financial prudence, developing a strong work ethic, dealing with people, and remaining sexually pure.
Read Proverbs 6:6-11 Work Diligently
Notice the down-to-earth quality of the advice in verses 6-11. In this day the so-called “work ethic” is often ridiculed and blamed for many of the ills of society. Those “hung up” on working hard and trying to achieve are regarded by many as the enemies of society where it is quite acceptable to be a consumer rather than a producer, a user instead of a creator. Here the busy little ant is cited as proper example for the lazy person. Watch her as she appears to scurry tirelessly to and fro, ceaselessly doing her work. The ant possessed a God-given wisdom on work diligently and effectively. She is laying in her stores for the rainy days ahead. Verses 9-11 are a wonderful observation about life. Here is the perfect proverb. It expresses a commonly-accepted truth and puts it in graphic, rememberable words. This particular gem of truth is that one does not have to set out deliberately to be trifling and no-account. All one has to do is fold one’s hands and let it happen. Life is a lot like gardening. You don’t have to plant weeds; all you have to do about them is nothing. They will take over. Inertia is a powerful negative force against which one must struggle.
Solomon took off the gloves with the accusing question, “How long?” This question implied something bad had been going on for too long, unless the “slacker” took decisive action immediately, judgment would fall. The slacker was challenged to learn from the ant. Solomon mimicked the lazy man by asking for a little sleep. The lazy man would rather escape reality and enjoy a little more slumber than face the world. Those last few moments of sleep are delicious; we savor them as we resist beginning another workday. But Proverbs warns against giving in to the temptation of laziness, of sleeping instead of working. Of course, this does not mean we never rest. God gave the Jews the Sabbath; a weekly day of rest and restoration. (So it is okay to take a Sunday afternoon nap.) Solomon is saying we should not rest when we should be working- especially for the Lord. The ant is used as an example because it utilizes its energy and resources economically. Solomon warned that laziness results in poverty. To what degree did this type of person bring benefit to those they cared about and others? (Probably zero! In fact, they may have even caused harm to others.)
Read Proverbs 6:16-19 Demonstrate Integrity
Solomon’s instructions stated the demands of integrity in the negative. He is certainly indicating that integrity must be built continually. Few people decide to outright lie or cheat; instead, they find themselves taking shortcuts. These shortcuts lead to eroding our standards. Solomon provided a catalogue of negative actions and character traits that the Lord hates. Each of them targeted its victim for ruin, but they can return upon the troublemaker as well. Solomon was describing a concise and vivid description of the troublemaker. Notice the physical imagery of these vices. Five of them are associated with parts of the body: eyes, tongue, hands, heart and feet. The body itself is not evil, no part of it. The use one makes of it, however, is the critical issue. The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit if we make it so, or it is a vile instrument if we choose to make it so. The last two of these “detestable” things describe those who break the bonds of confidence and loyalty by offering false testimony and stirring up trouble among brothers.
Arrogant eyes head Solomon’s list. These are eyes turned upward in arrogance rather than downward in humility. A lying tongue signifies a person who has no regard for the truth and displays aggressive deceit intended to harm others. The hands that shed innocent blood show a violent tendency of the troublemaker and display a lack of control over anger. (Note the use of “innocent”. A lot of blood was shed in the Old Testament due to war.) The heart resides at the center of the human anatomy and gives rise to all of a person’s physical, mental, and spiritual life. A heart that plots wicked schemes would drive the evil action of the person. Solomon puts together three words, “plots wicked schemes”, to heighten the nature of the heart’s propensity toward evil and indicates this person will bend the rules for personal gain at another’s expense. Then Solomon says a troublemaker will use their feet to run to evil, emphasizing this person’s zeal and enthusiasm to follow his inner compulsion as soon as possible.
Because a believer’s heart seeks to glorify Christ, their good works follow them. God has called us to demonstrate integrity as we live for Him. When we avoid these seven actions and traits, people will take note that we live as people of integrity. (There are times when I feel our quarterly leaves out some verses that are important for understanding the full contexts of a section. In searching several commentaries, I feel a need to read verses 6:20-22 before moving into our last section.)
Read Proverbs 6:23-27 Exhibit Purity
Verse 20 begins with a familiar address “My son”. This is followed by the usual admonition to follow the guidance of parents, giving a general promise of benefits of following such guidance. It is natural and good for children, as they grow toward adulthood, to become increasingly independent of their parents. Young adults, however, should take care not to turn a deaf ear to their parents- to neglect their advice just when it is needed most. Their years of experience may have given them the wisdom the young adult seeks. Solomon’s wisdom and advice that follows in verses 23-27 is also appropriate for us. Maybe Solomon in his wisdom sets this up to say that if a person falls into the problems described in verses 23-27, they are still like the young adult who needs to go to some older, wiser counsel also. They, too, need the command and teaching that the parental “light” provides for walking in wisdom. Solomon seems to be trumpeting the biblically based counsel of parents as sharing the function of God’s Word- who is the ultimate Father.
Look at the imagery of wisdom’s companionship: she will walk with you in the day, watch over you in the night when you sleep, and talk with you as a companion when you are awake. The specific warning of this passage is introduced at verse 24. Wisdom will be a shield for you against “the smooth tongue of the adventuress,” literally, the “strange woman”. One reading Proverbs will be impressed with the extensive treatment of the sin of sexual immorality, especially with another man’s wife. Remember that these teachings are directed to male youths. There the warnings are to young men as indicated in verses 20-22, rather than to both sexes, and are designed to caution the inexperienced young man against the wiles of an older married woman who is looking for sexual adventure with a young man. The emphatic teaching is that such sin may not be excused on the ground of temptation to give in to a physical need, but that the sin is folly, a folly that has dire consequences. Thus, “do not let her capture you with her eyelashes” is a graphic metaphor to describe the elaborately made-up temptress who has not only unveiled her face but made more alluring by the use of cosmetics (v. 25). The lustful looks of such a woman are most enticing to the inexperienced male, and this can be true for all men at times.
Verse 26 suggests that the adulteress is a woman more greatly to be feared than a prostitute whose motive is money. The prostitute does it for a loaf of bread, but the stakes are the life of the gullible youth who is ensnared by the sex-hungry adulteress. Retribution is inevitable, says the Proverbs. One does not carry fire in his arms without burning his clothes. Nobody escapes immorality’s consequences. The law of cause-and effect works rigorously here as does the law of sowing and reaping. Solomon offers us great instructions from his own failings.
