Introduction:
What kind of man are you? It is a tough question, isn’t it? From the time we were young boys, we always wanted to grow up to become men. Not just adult males, but MEN! Many an injury or insult could cast aside with the simple chiding – be a man! So the question we need to consider here for the next couple of weeks is – what kind of man are you?
From time to time, it is good to do some self-examination. David prayed to the Lord to search his heart. Would you pray that same prayer as we embark on this study? We are going to be looking through the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs was written by one of the wisest men ever to live. It is a book of wisdom, a book filled with practical, yet deep, words to live by. But more important than that, it is the inspired Word of God. These verses are not to be put aside and compared with Dr. Phil, Anthony Robbins and the self-help section of the bookstore.
This is important to remember. As we begin to examine our lives, we cannot simply rely upon our own judgment. We tend to be easy on ourselves. We don’t tend to be very objective when it comes to our own lives. Instead we are easy, defensive and dismissive. Nor are we going to rely upon the thoughts of other men to examine ourselves. At best, they are also men. We need an objective, outside – dare I say transcendent, view of our lives. This can only come through the pages of Holy Scripture. Remember II Timothy 3:16.
What kind of man are you? Again, we return to the book of Proverbs. In sense, we have the inside access to the King of Israel, and his advice to his sons. Through this father/son chat, the Holy Spirit reveals to us several examples of men we should desire to imitate with out lives, and men we should avoid at all costs. We will be looking through some of these examples in this study.
The Slothful Man
The sin of laziness is a sin no preacher wants to preach on and no church member wants to hear. It convicts us all, doesn’t it? We live in an age where amusement and entertainment are prized and guarded. Who does the world most look up to – entertainers. When a cause is really important – they trot out the entertainers or professional athletes for a public service announcement. Why – because everyone is paying attention to them! Around the office, is there more conversation about the work to be done or of the game last night? The Bible does speak of rest – and rest is necessary. However, we cannot mistake and replace recreation for rest.
I. Will Not Do His Own Work (12:27)
A. Here is a man who goes out and hunts. He takes the time and begins to do the right thing. He desires to feed his family. He doesn’t look for a hand-out here. Hunting does take skill and he does kill the prey. However, he fails to do anything with it once he has it. He didn’t finish the job. How many of us set out to do great things, and wind up with a list of projects we mean to finish up someday…
B. By the way, if he isn’t going to eat his own food – whose food will he eat? Some commentators believe this to be the main thrust of the Proverb. Here he is living off another man’s labors. He has a welfare mentality – society owes him something.
C. I just finished reading an excellent book this weekend – More Precious than Gold by John and Brenda Vaughn. John was a pastor of a then small church and saw his wife and 2 year old daughter burned and almost killed in a house fire. Both were in the hospital for months and sustain injuries and scares from it. Becky, the 2 year old girl was permanently disabled and scared for life. At the time, the community of Greenville, SC poured out their compassion and support during the tragedy. But, at some point, that all comes to an end. Dr. Vaughn mentions toward the end of his book that He tried hard not to allow Becky or Brenda to feel as though because they are handicapped and been through a horrible ordeal that they are entitled to special rights. No, instead they have special obligations and ministry opportunities few will ever have. How can we able-body citizens think any less for ourselves?
II. Lazy (19:24)
A. Here is a man too lazy to even pick up his own food and bring it to his mouth. He has everything he needs in front of him – a fork, a plate, food – but the job is not getting done.
B. A lot of are in that same situation. We lack nothing but initiative. Initiative is drive that makes things happen. Some people have a lot of great ideas, but they never result in anything. A lot of us have every necessary to succeed right before us, but we fail to do any of it.
C. The end result of this will be starvation! This verse reminds of us of II Timothy 3:10.
III. Looks for any excuse He can to keep from doing something (22:13) (26:13)
A. This is the man who is looking for an excuse not to do his work.
B. We can always find an excuse, can’t we? At the first sign of a sniffle, we call in sick. The children give us a little bit of trouble; we’re not going to church. Looks like rain, can’t mow the lawn today! We can find an excuse for anything. However, the opposite is true as well. We can always find a reason to do the things we want to do. It is always amazing to me the sacrifices people make for things of little consequence. Sports fanatics are a great example of this.
C. J. Vernon McGee – I think he’s lying about that lion!
IV. Lives a difficult life (15:19) (24:30-34)
A. His way is a hedge of thorns – everything is difficult. Nothing seems to work out the way he desires. Have you ever seen people who can’t figure why their lives are so messed up, yet continue on in their laziness?
B. Here we see the dwelling place of the slothful man. It is covered with thorns and nettles. It is obvious no work had been done here any time soon. I remember working the bus route in Pensacola. Picking up some of the poorer kids in the poorer sections of town – you saw one common trait – their yards and houses were a mess! It does not take much money to by a rake or to take the time to keep things up. Reading this verse makes me thing about they way I treat what God had entrusted to me.
C. This verse describes the slothful man as one who lacks judgment. A person who does not make right decisions.
D. There is a lot of work to be done, but what are the slothful doing – sleeping. Oh, not being lazy – but everyone needs a little bit of sleep. Have you ever found yourself deep in sleep after saying you just wanted to take a short catnap? My grandfather calls it resting his eyes. I know there is a lot of work, this mentality says, and I will get to it – but I just need to rest up a bit before hand. Yet, another excuse.
E. What is the final result – poverty comes along with suffering. Want, desire and need are compared to an armed man – a thief who comes when no one expects him. Laziness robs a man’s life of it value.
The Poor Man
Please do not misunderstand; it is not a sin to be poor. Paul found himself constantly in need, as did many early Christians. A lack of funds does not necessarily mean you are in sin. However, it just may be the case nonetheless. There are many who are hurting because of their own actions.
I. He Loves Pleasure (21:17)
A. These poor people love their pleasure! These are people who live for the weekend! I remember again back in college a seminar on updating your resume. Dr. Greg Mutsch held up several, actual resumes the college has received. One of them was hand-written on Garfield stationary with the caption, “I Hate Mondays!” In other words, this person was only seeking a job to support his hobbies and pleasures.
B. Here we see the habits of the slothful man resulting in the condition of the poor man.
C. Where are your priorities? The school here requires a lot out of me. There are some things I do not have time to do, even thought I greatly enjoy doing them. I have to be careful. I find that sometimes as I am sitting at home working on a message or school work, other distractions start calling me. Perhaps I am on the computer, working and then my mind starts to wonder if this blog over there has been updated. What going on there in the world wide web? I stare at my cell phone. It’s been five minutes since I last spoke to Jill, I wonder what see is doing. Perhaps its almost time for a special tv program… We have to make it a point to make priorities.
II. He Oppresses other Poor People! (28:3)
A. Common sense would say this is a bad idea! You would think these people would understand where they are coming from and have mutual compassion. But such is not the case. Instead they fight each other and try to hold other people down while they grab for their own needs.
B. We think this sounds ridiculous – but we do have some modern day examples.
1. How about the drug lords over in Somalia? We were trying to give the people aide and supplies, yet it never reached them.
2. How about a little closer to home – the corporate world. Perhaps you have heard the expression about climbing the corporate ladder – looking out for number one. What is that? It is one man in the same position as other men, trying to step over one another to be on top!
3. Last week we witnessed Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving. We all saw the video on the news of people trampling and fighting each other to see who could get the discounted products.
Conclusion:
Which man do you most resemble? Are there slothful characteristics in your life?
Posted by Kevin Thompson 
Posted by Kevin Thompson 
Posted by Kevin Thompson 
