Proverbs 23 – 24

Verse 23:1 is something most don’t need to think about, except for one situation:

When sitting down to eat with a ruler,
    take a moment to think about who you are with and what you are doing.

When you think about it, most of us will never sit with a president, a prime minister or king, so we don’t need to be too concerned about our table manners. On the other hand we sit down daily with our God and commune with Him, formal or not. We need to consider what we are doing and not just start with the whine!!! Give this relationship the respect it deserves.

Verses 23:4 & 5 can be applied to society today:

⁴ Do not overwork yourself just to become wealthy;
    have enough sense to know when to quit.
⁵ As soon as you become fixed on riches, they vanish.
    For suddenly they sprout wings
    and become like a soaring eagle flying high in the sky.

Work-a-holics are nothing new but society today is driving everyone that direction. The move to empower and masculine women has made their drive for the might dollar just as aggressive as men, so no longer are children being tended to by family but rather by a for profit center designed to keep them safe and nothing more. I think we have lost it and need to turn off the tube and disconnect from the marketing hype. Realize your job is not you and ten years later it will be the same, but your family will be ravaged. Money is temporary, God is eternal!!

Verse 23:13 is key to raising children:

Do not withhold discipline from children,
    since corporal punishment will not kill them.

There is a fine line here. We are not to beat our children to an inch of their lives, but not coddle them and say it’s ok. Discipline must be administered, but in a loving and kind way. Yes spanking is required and has been the only known corrective action to children’s misbehavior for millennium.

Verse 24:10 reminded me of the poem “If”:

If you fall apart during a crisis,
    then you weren’t very strong to begin with.

The poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling stated it this way: “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” The key to life is realizing crises will happen and the only way to get through them is to be calm. In extreme instances freezing or falling apart will kill you. We must understand that we are here not only to show faith in God but our trust in Him. It’s easy to show this when things are good, it’s critical when things are bad.

Verse 24:17 & 18 is something our society tends to ignore these days:

¹⁷ Do not celebrate when your enemies fall,
    and do not rejoice when they trip up;
¹⁸ Or else the Eternal will know and be upset with you,
    and He will release them from His anger.

A Mad About Sports comic from decades ago summed it up and although I can’t quote it exactly I will lay it out. It had two frames with reporters asking the winning pitcher about the game, the “old” frame had a humble pitcher thanking his team and giving them credit, the “new” frame had him taking all the credit. We do the same thing in conflicts, we gloat over the loser instead of honoring their accomplishments as well.  Be aware of the second verse. I think Malcom Smith from On Any Sunday epitomized this when interviewed, he talked about how fun it was and told stories about everyone’s experience.