Bible Study - Re-Finance (3) - Earn Money Productively - Proverbs 6:6-11 - July 31, 2016

Bible Study – Re-Finance (3) – Earn Money Productively – July 31, 2016

This is lesson three (3) in our series entitled “Re-Finance: Ancient Wisdom for Money Management.”

Our focus scripture is Proverbs 6:6-11.

Work isn’t easy but it’s necessary.

When GOD made humans, HE made them to be responsible and to work.

Let’s read Genesis 2:7-9; 15-18:

7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.

9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the midst of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,

17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."

18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is like him."

GOD formed man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it, care for it, to be responsible for it and to be responsible for what went on in the Garden. Thus, when Eve was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam should have stopped her. But he didn’t. Adam was responsible and GOD held Adam accountable for allowing Eve to sin. Thus the consequence was they and their offspring lost eternal life. Notice what else happened as the result of sin as recorded in Genesis 3:16-19:

16 He (GOD) said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will dominate you.

17 And He said to Adam, "Because you listened to your wife's voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'Do not eat from it': The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust."

GOD is all knowing and because of HIS foreknowledge HE had a plan of redemption which is revealed in Genesis 3:14-15:

14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life.

15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He (JESUS) will strike your head, and you (Satan) will strike his heel.

Genesis 3:21-23 foreshadows GOD’S redemptive plan for the redemption of mankind through the shedding of blood when GOD made the clothing for Adam and Eve, as we read:

21 The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

GOD had to sacrifice an animal or animals in order to make “clothing out of skins;” thus the shedding of blood.

22 The Lord God said, "Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever."

If Adam had eaten the fruit from the tree of life mankind would have lived eternally but in a fallen state living in a place thwart with good and evil. 

23 So the Lord God sent him away from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

GOD redeemed mankind from this original sin by sending HIS only Son JESUS to give HIS perfect, sinless life by the shedding of HIS blood for all who will place their faith in HIM to be redeemed from the original sin. When we place our faith in JESUS as our Savior, we are reborn/born-again into the family of GOD as HIS Sons or Daughters. GOD’S Spirit, as the divine sperm, unites with our spirit and the miracle of Spiritual rebirth takes place, thus the terms born-again or rebirth. Spiritual rebirth is vital and necessary to be restored to GOD’S original intent for mankind to live eternally with HIM as HIS child and in HIS presence for eternity. Christians are children of GOD with all the rights and privileges that come with that relationship. HIS desire is for us to get to know HIM by building the right relationship with HIM. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:20:

20 but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is an awesome journey! 

I like to think of earth as our second opportunity to get it right. That is get back into right relationship with GOD through faith in JESUS. Our life as a human is GOD’S gift to the human race to be born into the world our original parents chose for their off-spring when they both ate the fruit from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Life upon earth, filled with both good and evil, surely gives all humans a taste of living in such a world. Yet, GOD in HIS love for all humans did not leave us abandoned in this world of good and evil without hope. John 3:16-18 expresses GOD’S love for all in this world. JESUS was talking to Nicodemus a Jewish teacher and a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, who became a follower of JESUS:

16 "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

GOD is wisdom and Proverbs 8 focuses on wisdom and the fact that wisdom was present before GOD created the world and was present at its creation. The reason for this scripture is to reveal that GOD has included wisdom in all creation from the micro to the macro, from the nearest and to the most distant. GOD reveals Himself in all creation. Study creation and be amazed with HIS handiwork. Let’s read verses 22-36:

22 The Lord made me (Wisdom is speaking. Wisdom in Hebrew is a feminine noun, thus referred to as “she” in some verses.) at the beginning of His creation, before His works of long ago.

23 I (Wisdom) was formed before ancient times, from the beginning, before the earth began.

GOD created the world such that all-of-the world reflects HIM. All of nature reveals the handiwork of GOD. Science likes to say we and all we see just evolved. Evolved from what? Can’t you see that GOD was and is the Master designer of the universe, world and all that is in it and what happens in it? Consider the order of the universe and the world; the seasons and the many things that exist both in the cosmos and upon earth for us to exist as humans upon earth. Was it by random chance or master design? You decide. GOD reveals Himself in the universe and all of nature.

That is one reason the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:20:

20 From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

GOD is in all things revealing Him. HE reveals Himself through the simple things in life that all people can observe, such as the Proverb we will study today. Let’s explore!

Study GOD’S Word, the Bible, and let HIM reveal Himself to you as you go through life. In Psalm 14:1:

1 The fool says in his heart, "God does not exist." They are corrupt; their actions are revolting. There is no one who does good.

GOD reveals Himself in nature and in many other ways. Our focus scripture, Proverbs 6:6-11, is a short wisdom poem. It is a poem intended for people to memorize and quote as they go through the day. It is a reminder that when things get tough the tough keep going to accomplish what needs to be done.

The poem has two stanzas. The first stanza is verses 6-8 and the second is verses 9-11. The purpose of the poem is an effort to get a person moving and to stop procrastinating. Most of us enjoy staying in a nice warm, comfortable bed but doing so does not get accomplished what needs to be accomplished in life. In fact, when we succumb to putting off, it only exacerbates the frustration of not getting done what needs to be accomplished. Proverbs gives us an example of getting accomplished what needs to be accomplished by referring to the ant. 

Let’s read Proverbs 6:6-8:

Laziness

6 Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.

7 Without leader, administrator, or ruler,

8 it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest.

GOD reveals Himself through nature. Wisdom tells us to consider the simple things GOD has created and observe them. We read in Proverbs 8 that GOD created wisdom to work along HIS side when HE created the world and because HE did, wisdom is revealed in HIS creation. Consider the simple ant to observe GOD’S handiwork in this tiny creature.

A slacker is one who is “slow.” It describes a person who is slow-moving when it comes to work.

I recall a short story years ago. A certain man in his city was looking for the laziest person in that city. He came upon a man laying on his back in the park in tattered clothes and he told the reclining man that he was trying to find the laziest person in that city and that the winner would receive a cash reward. The man lying on the grass, said, “If I win come back here and roll me over and put the money in my back pocket.”

Proverbs records, in a number of places, the humor in the excuses slackers use not to work or get something done.

Proverbs 19:24 – 24 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl; he doesn't even bring it back to his mouth.

Proverbs 22:13 – 13 The slacker says, "There's a lion outside! I'll be killed in the streets!"

Proverbs 26:14 - 14 A door turns on its hinge, and a slacker, on his bed.

The first stanza of Proverbs 6:6-8 instructs the slacker to observe the ant. Consider its ways and become wise. The ant does what needs to be accomplished without a leader, administrator, or ruler. The ant is self-motivated. Innate in its DNA is the need to survive and, in turn, the need to prepare for the coming winter months. Thus, the ant is diligent during the summer and the times of harvest to store its food for winter.

When one observes the ant, he or she, can see that the ant has extraordinary strength compared to its size to carry the things it has foraged. One can observe team work among the ant colony. All is accomplished without a boss. Such a work ethic is inherent in the ant.

We can observe the bees and witness the same self-motivation and industrious nature as ants. They both have a job to do and they get it done and aren’t we glad. I love honey. We are to observe the simple and become wise because many things reflect the awesomeness of GOD and HIS master design. GOD made these self-motivated living things to point to the minute detail of HIS creation. All things work in harmony for us to observe and know that GOD is the creator of all things both large and small.

Let’s consider the second stanza based upon the message in the first stanza. The ant is self-motivated and is not a slacker; therefore, the message to the slacker is ---- as we read.

Let’s read Proverbs 6: 9-11:

9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,

11 and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit.

The second stanza admonishes the slacker to get out of the doldrums and get to work. Sleep represents all forms of laziness or lack of motivation to do what one needs to do. The more we procrastinate the more we avoid doing what needs to be done. Then, when the mountain of neglect gets so large we are discouraged from even attempting to do what needs to be done. Slackness breeds putting off, which often leads to poverty. Poverty leads to low self-esteem and a feeling of failure. Poverty robs you.

Welfare has its place in society but welfare can breed laziness and slackness. It robs those on welfare the satisfaction of accomplishing and providing for their needs and the needs of their family. It robs them of skills they could develop if they were gainfully employed. Why work when what one needs is handed to him or her.

We must keep in mind that every social program, be it government or private, needs customers and this need for customers often leads to keeping their customers on their programs. In some circles, it can lead to growing these programs by getting more people to be dependent on them. Our society needs to consider giving a hand-up and not a hand-out. Some people do need long term assistance but others need to be weaned from these programs. Some people on assistance programs think that society owes them and they teach others to milk these programs. It breeds poverty. Poverty means to be destitute and in want and is often self-imposed but not always.

Observe the ant and work to provide what you need and teach others the value of work. GOD made us to work and tend the Garden of life. For those who cannot, we need to help them by giving them a hand-up and for some a hand-out. Our society is becoming more and more dependent on a hand-out and assistance programs which aid and abet those prone to laziness. Society becomes the thief that robs them of the satisfaction of being what GOD intended for the human race. Such a societal attitude makes some a slave to the system and robs them of being productive members of society.

The wealthy Jewish land owners directed those who harvested their crops to leave a portion around the edges of the fields for those in need but they had to harvest for themselves. The principle was that those in need had to take the initiative to harvest. Boaz in the Old Testament left grain to be harvested by Ruth but Ruth had to harvest the grain. (The Book of Ruth)

Be wise America! Vote wisely! Our and our children’s futures depend upon it. Blessings!!!