Proverbs 10:4-5, No Bankrupts Here!
April 20, Proverbs 10:4-5
Matthew 25:24-30 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10).
No Bankrupts Here!
These two proverbs are closely linked. They complement the promise in v.3, and v.4 finds support in v.5. Some may piously announce they have no interest in getting rich, but vs.5 reveals that if poverty is not a disgrace, idleness is! There is also the good name of your Lord and your family to consider as well. D.L. Moody once said there should not be one drop of lazy blood in the body of truly saved person, and surely he was on Scriptural grounds in saying that. The Bible clearly teaches that we cannot work for our salvation (Eph. 2:8-9), but it just as clearly asserts that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12; Jas. 2:20). You will find this word diligent used five times in Proverbs. Its root meaning refers to a sharp-cutting, threshing instrument (Isa. 41:15). Thus it came to describe “the sharp-pointed and determined activity of the truly dedicated, decisive person.” By using these contrasts Solomon shows once again that hard work distinguishes between the moocher’s hand and the Master’s.
1. The Moocher’s Hand is Deceptive. Read your Bible, and you will see that God has little good to say of the slacker or moocher. Slothfulness or indolence is akin to sin! Passage after passage severely exposes it and soundly condemns it. Slack also appears as slothful, deceitful and as guile. Our Lord told of the man who wrapped his talent in a cloth and buried it, but he received no praise for doing so. Rather, Jesus accused him of being a wicked and slothful servant. The Lord’s favour is not for loiterers and loafers, of which our welfare states are producing a bumper crop. Is it any wonder that so many men and women are miserable and blaming others for their plight? The Dean of his College once asked a student why he had failed to complete an assignment. “I wasn’t feeling very well, Sir,” said the student. “Mr. Smith,” said the Dean, “I think that in time you may perhaps find that most of the work of the world is done by people who aren’t feeling very well.” Another Dean, because of some poor exam results, told a student, “Genius is 90 percent persperation!” Put it this way, “If you do not wait on your business, your business will not wait on you.” The moocher becomes poor by wasting the time and talents entrusted to him.
2. The Master’s Hand is Decisive. In this verse two different words are used for hand. One describes a slack or flabby hand. It is the open palm (kaph) as if looking for a handout. It came to mean a hand of deceit because such a man pretends to serve his Master when, in fact, he does little or nothing to earn his keep. The other word (yadh) is associated with diligence, decision, always nerved for work. It is an active hand. The first is a hand of emptiness while the other is a hand of earnestness. The one wants a handout, while the other offers a hand-up. How busy were the Master’s hands when He was on earth, and, as he was so are we in this world (1 Jn. 4:17). There is a close connection between the bounty of God and the duty of man. The trade of the world is uncertain.
Thought: “Our idle days are Satan’s busy days” (Bishop Hall).
Prayer: Lord, make my hands swift and beautiful for Thee.