PROVERBS 24: 30-34
PROCRASTINATION'S GARDEN
[Isaiah 28:24-29; 5:1-6]
We have idleness portrayed before us by the master sage, Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived (1 Kings 3:12). The true to life picture is of negligence and the consequences it brings. To the observant eye, the results of an idle man's life gave the by-passer a lecture on the virtue of diligence. Noting carefully the slothful man and his field can teach us how to avoid more than poverty. Learning diligence from the depicted wall and vineyard's condition is not the only lesson offered here for the far greater concern is the condition of a soul whose owner has neglected to cultivate and tend it.
The most valuable field and vineyard a person possesses is his eternal soul. May we too behold, truly perceive and receive instruction that lead to life (CIM).
I. AN OBSERVED CONDITION NOTED, 30-31.
II. BEHOLDING IS MORE THAN SEEING, 32.
III. INSTRUCTION IS MORE THAN REFLECTION, 33-34.
Before we turn to our text, some BACKGROUND would be beneficial. This is the last proverb in Solomon's original compilation of his Book of Proverbs. Chapter twenty-five verse one reads, "These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah transcribed." Thus this last teaching of Solomon's personally compiled proverbs could be viewed as a summation statement on how Solomon took his God given wisdom and applied it in such a manner that the serious student could use his method. The practical issue of this proverb shows us how to receive the greatest amount of understanding possible from the occurrences we encounter in our day to day lives.
Solomon had the capacity to look deeply into the events of life so that he could apply the results of his understanding to his life and rule, in order that he would have a larger foundation to build on with his increased understanding. As he applied wisdom He gained greater and deeper understanding. If we learn from Solomon we will realize that, what you perceive should alter (change) your life (CIT).
I. AN OBSERVED CONDITION NOTED, 30-31.
The teacher bases the validity of this saying on personal experience as all the "I's" in the first three verses tell us. The feisty sage was continuously looking at life for himself (1:14; 2:3, 13, 24; 3:10, etc.) and pondering his findings, which he then shares with his students or us.
The first point in rhythm with the meter of this proverb is that you should observe life as you go through it in verses 30 and 31. Verse 30 tells us that the pitiful field and vineyard of a lazy person is brought under observation. "I passed by the field of the sluggard, and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense."
The lazy man conceives himself as being as wise or wiser than other men, but, is his feeling correct or is he under strange delusion? If we will just get our heart right before God we can learn to observe and learn from the conditions of life. For lessons stand before the learner if he will just take in what life shows him.
The man here is called a sluggard or lazy [used 14 times in Proverbs] and is also said to lack sense (6:32; 10:13) though I'm sure he would be in hostile disagreement with that assessment. He is called that because of his flagrant neglect of his own interests. Unlike the situations of millions who have not a single square yard of green sod to call their own, this man had a little estate. He had a field and vineyard which he could cultivate to gain his bread. But let us see what advantage he gained from what he possessed.
A threefold evidence of lethargy is detailed in verse 31. "And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles, its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down."
Verse 31 tells us what three things the observer's vision fixed upon- beheld.
1. A field completely overgrown with thistles,
2. The field's surface was covered with nettles (or weeds),
3. And the stone wall was broken down.
The picture is one of abandonment. A man had at one time broken up the virgin soul and with back breaking toil planted a vineyard. And now the field has lost is natural covering which had previously held back the weeds from growing and the soil from erosion. The soil was laid bare to produce a crop and now the land must be continually cared for or be re-sown with a wild grass covering. If it is not, the land will become infested with weeds. Weeds and thistles are signs of dereliction and possibly judgment (Is. 34:13; Hos. 9:6)
The stone wall (Num. 22:24; Ps. 80:12; Is. 5:5) raised by some industrious and trained hand is broken down (11:11) and its fragments crumbling. The owner is too lazy to repair it. [The owner did nothing for the vineyard and the vineyard in turn did nothing for him.] His vineyard is left prey to every invader while the owner neglects his responsibility and indulges himself in irresponsibility or foolishness. Because of his neglect what should produce fruitfulness yields instead thorns and thistles. [Some states have a law that requires land owners to remove thistles because if cows and sheep eat them they can get lodge and kill them.] This blighted vineyard was an unpleasant sight, no longer becoming to the mind's eye. Yet a profound lesson was there, if one would but behold it.
How many times in life do you just walk right on by, wrapped up in your own life. Only interested in what you are doing or what you are going to do, and you don't behold. The lesson is there but you must see it and take possession of the sights that pass before you.
II. BEHOLDING IS MORE THAN SEEING, 32.
All this abandonment is an object lesson that could be pondered carefully we learn in verse 32. "When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction.
Notice the initial clause in the verse; "When I saw." The seeing he is speaking of here is not just a looking around to keep himself from running into another object or person. He is not just looking for a conversation topic. He is beholding an entire setting. He gazes with the intention of retaining in his mind what his physical eyes saw, for the purpose of reflection and learning from it.
The diligent observer can reap and carry off the only harvest that this field was yielding, which is a warning and a lesson. The owner received nothing from it, but the on-looker reflected upon it that he might harvest a crop of instruction.
The sage said, "I reflected up it." Literally the phrase is, "I set my heart." The heart is the inner being of man. It is the seat of his mind, will, disposition [-attitude], and emotions. In this context it means an inner positioning of the will. A resolution to find the meaning of what has been beheld. Previously in verse 30 Solomon stated his immediate determinations. It was the field of a sluggard. Further defined as the vineyard of a man lacking sense.
Solomon now sets his will to learn more from this man who is obviously doing something wrong. He views the negative aspects of man in order to obtain something positive. He observes man's responsibility to his work.
How often do we look only at the SUCCESS STORIES? We look at those whose businesses started with a little profit and ended up wealthy. You study those who started at low positions of work and ended up in places of large responsibility. This perspective is not bad in and of itself, but when you view those successes to the exclusion of the failures you miss many learning opportunities. You not only need to know what works but what does not work. But to learn from any situation you must reflect or contemplate upon it.
Yet reflection is not all you need to do, because verse 32 continues saying, "I looked." The writer has previously stated that he not only saw but he retained what he saw and was seeking to learn more from the information. Thus we know Solomon is meaning something deeper than sensory vision. Solomon had the picture in his mind and he was delving into and sorting through the possibilities of this situation. Solomon was looking at what he saw so that it could be opened wider to him. He persisted, expecting to learn from what he had realized of this lazy man's calamity.
The wall that marked the boundaries, that surrounded the man's personal possession was crumbling. There was no wall around the vineyard to defend the fruit and no fruit within the vineyard to be defended. The owner did nothing for his property and his property did nothing for him. The growth of fruitless weeds was only the result of the unkept property. This is the sad result of every life where rigor and continuous striving has not been exercised.
It is the virtue of hard work which tells in the long run, and without which the most brilliant talents will have little result. However gifted a man may be, he will be a failure if he has not learned the great secret of dogged persistence in often unwelcome toil. No character worth building up is built without continuous effort. If a man does not labor to be good, he will surely become bad. It is an old axiom that no man attains superlative wickedness all at once, and most certainly no man leaps to the height of the goodness possible to his nature by one spring. He has to laboriously step by step, climb the hill. Progress in moral character is secured only by continued walking upwards, not by an occasional jump or two.
There is also a spiritual truth that needs to be taught right here. Jesus taught a parable about the field, the soil, and the character of a man. He said some men's lives are full of thorns that spring up and choke the Word and it becomes unfruitful.
Our character or our soil [or soul] starts out with faculties and potential abilities and capacities and it is our responsibility -and in our best interest- to develop them, to cultivate them. But unlike the soil of the ground which may be cultivated by proxy, your soil can only be cultivated by yourself.
If a neglected field is a disaster, what is a neglected soul? A soul which instead of being cultivated with the seeds of grace and the water of the Spirit is left to its own native barrenness, becomes overgrown with the characteristics of the old nature. Time, talents and opportunities are there but they have not been used in a diligent, in a worthwhile, in a wise way. And a soul instead of waving with golden grain and being a scene of fruitfulness and goodness becomes an unsightly slum, unprotected and open to every intruder. Ruin comes not by cultivation but by neglect. Heaven seeks to promote your good growth but we neglect our most prized possession, our eternal soul. It is not safe to let any of the fortifications of the Christian life fall into disrepair but they are to be attended to with strength and vigilance for the Roaring Lion is looking for a way in to devour.
If we neglect our times in Bible reading and prayer and in worship, Word and fellowship with the Lord our relationship with Him will deteriorate and we will no longer experience His blessings and fruitfulness. We need to establish priorities that honor God. Only then we'll we avoid the neglect that leads to loss.
III. INSTRUCTION IS MORE THAN REFLECTION, 33-34.
Verse 33 expresses what Solomon saw or what meaning distilled during his reflection. "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest."
Now this man does not intend to become lazy. He only wants a little sleep, a little slumber and then he will stir himself up and get with it. It is little by little that we get ourselves into trouble. Every hour or day that physical or spiritual laziness or procrastination takes hold of us it strengthens the habit and bounds its victim into bondage. Industry leaves little by little until idleness chains and paralysis takes hold, and one becomes content with a life of uselessness. He must have just a little more ease, relaxation, rest and thus slumbers on and shuts his eyes and ears to any disturbances to this fatal slumber.
Jesus often made the statements, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," and, "You keep on seeing but not perceiving or understanding." It is obvious that all had ears and that they grasped His statements. The pharisees were often angered because they realized only too well what Jesus said. Yet the right type of looking was not forth coming from most, because most would not look to perceive. The answer was living and breathing before them and in His Words, for He spoke as no other, but they refused the deep look. Why? Because perceiving often means that you are in the wrong place. You see enough to realize that the answer would mean that you have the wrong perspective. You have the data, you know its meaning, yet you close your eyes because you do not want to view yourself in the light of the revealed truth.
Looking upon or contemplating tough truth is a difficult task. It is easier to move on to something else. We stop short of taking what we perceived and learning lessons from it (Mt. 13: 14,15; Jn. 12:35-50; Acts 28: 22-29). But Solomon knew that was not the wise way, he not only looked he "received instruction." ["Receive instruction" used so often in Proverbs, means reflection on life's events or on humanity's foibles so that a paradigmatic or spiritual insight may be engender, which can be used to help someone avert disaster or achieve success [Mays, James Luther; Harper's Bible Commentary. Harper & Row, Publisher; Society of Biblical Literature: San Francisco, 1988, S. Pr 24:30].
This is why looking to perceive is a difficult task. It means receiving instruction, or literally to take discipline (Hebrew mûs r, take discipline or a lesson, 1:2). And discipline for the moment seems sorrowful (but to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness, Heb. 12:11). But Solomon did take instruction so that he might change his future life by the lesson he learned from this appalling situation.
The painful lesson learned is illustrates in verse 34. "Then your poverty will come as a robber, And your want like an armed man."
The outcome of Solomon's perceiving comes about in this resultant statement of wisdom. Suddenly the slacker awakens to the reality of the plight; poverty comes on him surprisingly like a bandit or suddenly like an attacking soldier. Calamity comes suddenly [or quickly] and when it comes it is difficult to defend yourself against it.
The accomplishments of Solomon's life shows that he personally applied this lesson to himself. It is emphasized in that he does not write of the sluggards poverty, but "your poverty," and "your want," as if to show his predetermination that it was not going to be his situation. He realized the results of laziness or lack of will power and determination that would move you to work- and how it continues to compound over time until it traps you, taking what you have and leaving no way out.
In the vineyard of your life, there is going to be a tendency to let things, important, eternal things, slide. Satan will see to it! You will spend a little less time in prayer, in Bible study, in quality time with your spouse and family, you will have less interest in visitation and witnessing. Little by little the work of God leaves and the weeds of the world begin to take over your life. Eventually your effectiveness as a Christian has been robbed from you. That is the reason we are told to plow up the fallow ground through repentance and plant it with the Word of God and then apply the Word of God to our life until our soul becomes fruitful.
CONCLUSION
It is not pleasant but you need to behold the failings of your life, your relationships, your work, your ministry. You will need to take stock of your short-comings and seek for God's solution. You will need to discipline yourself and take action to overcome residing lethargy. You must! For our robber and armed man is satan, who prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
You have work to do to cultivate the wilderness of your nature and repair the fences of your soul. The ground you have broken up for the planting of the Lord thus far in your pilgrimage must be re-plowed, reworked each new season to keep the weeds out. You have procrastinated and slept too long already. Resolve to do it. Then the vineyard of your life will bear much fruit.
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples" (John 15:7-8).
It costs us nothing to "go to school" on the mistakes of others and observe the consequences of their mistakes. That's one way to gain the most important education in life, and it's free. That's the kind of education the writer of Proverbs encourages us to get.
Lord, help us learn wisdom from the experience of others. Help us understand the mistakes others have made in not living by Your principles and precepts. Help us apply these lessons to our life and to the maturing of our eternal soul. To that end we need You to be our Teacher, Your Word to be our wisdom, and life to be our classroom.
The wisdom gained from life's hard knocks, is not soon lost or spurned, But we can also learn from those who share what they have learned. Learn from the mistakes of others; you may not live long enough to make them all yourself.
