Wisdom From Small Things, Pt. 5

I will be away from the computer this week, so feel free to comment, but I won’t be able to respond until next week.  Thanks for reading and God bless.

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

Proverbs 30:24-28

We have looked at several small, seemingly insignificant creatures in this series and have seen that a creature’s small size does not mean that they are small in wisdom.  The last thing we see is the spider.

“The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.”

Have you ever had one of those days where you work hard all day long, and at the end of the day, something happens and it just destroys everything you worked for?  Well, spiders have one of those days every day.  The spider spends her entire day carefully constructing her web.  Then, some well meaning person comes along and knocks it down.  But the spider doesn’t stop.  It just keeps right on going.

That is a great lesson for us.  No matter what happens to us in life, we need to just keep going.  If we get knocked down, we need to get up, dust ourselves off and just keep going.  The spider does that, and “is in kings’ palaces.”  Not even the army of servants that are found in palaces can keep every spider down.  They just refuse to quit and they just keep coming back.  That should describe us.  We should have that kind of perseverance!  Just keep coming back!

Wisdom From Little Things, Pt. 4

I will be away from the computer this week, so feel free to comment, but I won’t be able to respond until next week.  Thanks for reading and God bless.

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

Proverbs 30:24-28

In our look at this passage, we have seen that even some little and insignificant things have great wisdom.  We look at the hard working, forward looking ants and we looked at the wise conies, who understand that they are weak and helpless and hide in the rocks.  Today, we look at the locust.

The locust is described as having “no king.”  Groups of locusts swarm in different parts of the world.  There can be thousands or even millions of locusts in these swarms and they can do great damage to crops and other vegetation.  Locusts aren’t particularly big or threatening by themselves, but the entire swarm of them is an awesome sight.

There is no leader of all of the locusts, yet “go they forth all of them by bands.”  They have the ability to work together and get things done without having one “king locust” telling everyone what to do.  Do we have that ability?  Can we find what we are supposed to do and just do it?  Or do we have to be begged, prodded, or guilted into doing something?  We can gain wisdom from the locust in that he doesn’t need someone standing over him constantly telling him what to do.  Do we?

Wisdom From Little Things, Pt. 3

I will be away from the computer this week, so feel free to comment, but I won’t be able to respond until next week.  Thanks for reading and God bless.

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

Proverbs 30:24-28

Yesterday, we looked at the first of the little things that are described as being “exceeding wise.”  We looked at the ant and we saw how he works hard and has the wisdom to understand that he will not have the opportunity to work forever.  Today, we will look at little creatures called “conies.”  The Biblical “conie” is likely the rock hyrax of the mountains of Syria and Lebanon.

This creature is, as the Bible describes it, “a feeble folk.”  They kind of look like a fat rabbit with regular sized back legs.  They don’t run too fast, they don’t jump too high, they’re not particularly strong and they don’t have sharp claws or teeth.  They really are rather defenseless.

But they have the wisdom to understand that they are weak and feeble and they “make their houses in the rocks.”  That is great wisdom for us to follow.  We should understand just how weak and feeble we really are.  When we understand that, we will want to make our home in the rock – the Lord Jesus.  David described Him as his “Rock” many times.  When we abide in Him, we are safe – even though we are weak and defenseless.  And we can get all of that wisdom from the little conie!

Wisdom From Little Things, Pt. 2

I will be away from the computer this week, so feel free to comment, but I won’t be able to respond until next week.  Thanks for reading and God bless.

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

Proverbs 30:24-28

In looking at these creatures that are “exceeding wise,” we first come to the ant.  “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer…”

Ants are not very big or strong.  By their size and weight, they are actually pretty strong, but overall, they are very weak.  In fact, you have probably stepped on an ant walking down the sidewalk and never even noticed it.  They are, in the grand scheme of things, “a people not strong.”

But, despite their lack of strength, they do have the wisdom to “prepare their meat in the summer.”  They have foresight.  They work hard.  In fact, in another chapter of the book of Proverbs, God tells the sluggard (the lazy person) to “go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”  (Proverbs 6:6)  Ants work hard because they have the wisdom to know that they can not work forever.  There is a limited time for them to do their work and they manage to get it done.

We could learn something from the lowly ant.  We need to work hard at whatever we are doing and we need to understand that we will not have the opportunity to work forever.  If we want to do something, we need to take some wisdom from the ant and work to get it done!

Wisdom From Little Things, Pt. 1

I will be away from the computer this week, so feel free to comment, but I won’t be able to respond until next week.  Thanks for reading and God bless.

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

Proverbs 30:24-28

This passage of Proverbs gives us some wisdom.  The book of Proverbs is known as the “book of wisdom.”  These verses show us some wisdom that can be found with small creatures that we might not think had any wisdom at all.

Verse 24 tells us  that “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.”

Every thing listed in this passage is (especially to us) weak and insignificant.  Ants, conies, locusts, and spiders are all weak and feeble creatures.  Other than in some cases being a mild annoyance, they probably don’t even register in our thoughts.

But, despite their small size and relative weakness, all four of these creatures display wisdom.  In fact, the Bible tells us that they are “exceeding wise.”  We can learn a lesson just from that.  We might not be “big” in many ways.  We might live small lives in small places.  We might have seemingly insignificant lives.  But we are not insignificant to God.  We can all do something.  We can all have wisdom and do the things that God wants us to do.  We should never let our perceived weakness and/or insignificance stop us from doing what God wants us to do.  It doesn’t stop ants, conies, locusts or spiders.  It shouldn’t stop us, either!

 

Just Be Nice to People, Part VI

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.  Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.  Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.  Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

Proverbs 3:27-31

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Luke 6:31

This passage in Proverbs tells us to be nice to people.  It tells us to treat people fairly.  It tells us not to strive with others, especially those that we deal with on a daily basis and those who have done us no wrong.

This verse in Luke chapter 6 gives us the same general idea: be nice to people.  Treat them in the same way that you would like them to treat you.  Some people have called this the Golden Rule – for good reason.  This is the greatest rule that there is.  Treat others the way you want to be treated.  It sounds simple, and it is.

Everybody knows the Golden Rule.  Everybody has heard the saying “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  But not everybody uses the Golden Rule.  Definitely not everybody practices the Golden Rule.  If we would live by rule, and everyone else lived by this rule, imagine what a great place the world would be.  Imagine how friendly and helpful everyone would be if they all lived by this simple rule.

How are we doing today?  Are we living the Golden Rule?  Are we doing to others what we want them to do to us?  I think we can all try to do a little better.

You Get What You Look For

He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.

Proverbs 11:27

Proverbs is a great book.  It contains so much wisdom and the wisdom it contains is written at a level we can all understand.  The wisdom in Proverbs is, to put it in other terms, putting the cookies on the bottom shelf.  It contains simple truths, and this verse contains a very simple truth for us to consider.

“He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour.”  If you look diligently for good, you are going to find it.  If you search for wisdom, you are going to find it.  If you want to love the Lord, you are going to love the Lord.  If you want to do good, you are going to do it.

“…he that seeketh mischief, it shall come to him.”  The converse is also true.  The person who looks for mischief will find it.  If you want to sin, you are going to sin.  If you go looking for trouble, either you’re going to find it or it’s going to find you.

When you put those two truths together, you come up with this very simple gem: you get what you look for.  If you search for something, you are going to find it.  You will end up doing the things you set your heart on.

Since this is such a simple truth, there is a simple question for us to answer today.  What are we looking for?  Are we looking for, searching for, wanting, and striving for good, right, truth, and wisdom?  Or are we looking for, searching for, wanting, and striving for evil, mischief, and negativity?

We know we’re going to find what we search for.  So let us make sure that we are searching for the right things!

Just Be Nice To People, Part V

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.  Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.  Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.  Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

Proverbs 3:27-31

We have come to the last verse in this passage about our dealings with people.  “Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.”  This whole passage deals with being kind to people.  It deals with treating people with respect.  It deals with simply being a good person, a good friend and a good neighbour.

The last verse in the passage tells us to “envy not the oppressor.”  Being kind and good and friendly is the opposite way of the oppressor.  The oppressor is a jerk.  He hates people.  He has no desire to help anyone.  He starts arguments and fights with people for no reason whatsoever.  He even argues and fights with his neighbours and those close to him.  In short, he’s mean, arrogant, self-centered, short tempered, and angry.  He is all of the things that we are not supposed to be.

Sometimes we can see the oppressor and can become envious.  He is often the center of attention.  He often does things to make himself look better, even at the expense of others.  We are not to be envious of him and we are not to choose his ways.

How are we living our lives today?  Are we living a life of kindness and generosity or are we living the life of the oppressor?  Are we helpful and friendly to our neighbours and acquaintances?  Are we being nice to people?

Just Be Nice To People, Part IV

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.  Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.  Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.  Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

Proverbs 3:27-31

We have been looking at this passage in Proverbs dealing with our daily relationships for a few days now.  If we could sum the whole passage up in one phrase, it might be “just be good to people,” or, as the title of these posts says, “just be nice to people.”  It sounds simple, but something as small as just being nice to people will make a huge difference in our lives and in our Christian lives.

Today’s verse tells us to “Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.”  That would seem to be a very basic tenet of life, but we need the basics repeated fairly often.  When I teach Algebra, I often tell my students that it usually isn’t Algebra mistakes that get people, it’s the two plus two equals five mistakes that get people.  It’s the same in our lives.  We can usually avoid messing up in the “big” areas, but it’s the little things that get us.

This verse tells us not to fight with people who haven’t done anything to us.  That’s simple.  But sometimes we just like to fight and argue.  Sometimes we find some perceived slight and use that to start an argument.  Sometimes we just get cantankerous and cranky.  Whatever the reason, if people don’t bother us, we shouldn’t bother them.  Leave people alone.  Just be nice to people.  It’s as simple as that.

Just Be Nice To People, Part III

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.  Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.  Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.  Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

Proverbs 3:27-31

In looking at these verses about dealing with the people in our lives, we come to the third verse in the passage: “Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.”  This is a good piece of advice for dealing with our neighbours.

This verse tells us to not devise evil against our neighbour.  Of course, we shouldn’t devise evil against anyone, but especially not our neighbours.  The reason given for this advice is “seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.”  That is a very practical thought.  Of all the people in the world that we should be friendly and civil towards, our neighbours should be first on the list.  They live and sleep right next door to us.  If we get angry with someone, we can try to avoid them.  But avoiding our neighbours isn’t easy.  Our paths cross often.  There is nothing worse than being reminded of an argument over and over again.

Our neighbour here could apply to our physical neighbour.  It could also apply to anyone who is close to us: our friends, our fellow church members, or our co-workers.  We could apply this advice to any of those people as well.  Anyone who “dwelleth securely by us” would be a poor person to “devise evil against.”  We need to take care of our neighbours, whoever they may be.