FUTURE HOPE FOR YOU

Proverbs 24:13-34

Key Verse: 24:14

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF     Tuesday, June 12, 2012

“14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”

Dear Lord you are my all in all. Without you I have no hope. You are my comfort and my joy. I thank you for your wisdom and your grace and your truth that guides my life. Without you I would be so far off the track that I would be lost forever. But you keep me on the path of righteousness for our name’s sake. Thank you for being my shepherd. Please grant me your word deeply in my heart, mind and soul. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

1. Fear the Lord (13-22).

Verse 13-14 reads, “Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. 14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Wisdom is like sweet honey to our soul. He who has wisdom has a future hope. The word of God is wisdom. This world does not offer us wisdom. If it does, them it is only a poor reflection to the wisdom of God. I need God’s wisdom. I can not control my thoughts and emotions and desires without the wisdom of God. My feet do not know where to go without the wisdom of God. I can only lead myself into the path of alienation and loneliness and depression and fruitlessness without the wisdom of God. I surely would not know how to enter into the kingdom of heaven without the wisdom of God. I thank God for his granting me his wisdom on abundance. I thank God for opening the way for me to get back into daily bread again. I look forward learning of the wisdom of God each day and sharing it with others.

There are many practical benefits to wisdom. Look at verses 15-22, “15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place; 16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” God’s wisdom helps the people of God to get back up on their feet again and again and again. This world and the devil want Christians to lay down and curl up in the fetal position and shut up and die. But Jesus and God’s wisdom does not allow this to happen. We rise up from the ashes. This is resurrection faith. Wisdom teaches us to respect others…even when we see our enemy fallen. Look at verse 17. “17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, 18 or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.” Our natural reaction, when we see an enemy stumble and fall is to say, “Ahh Hah.” But we should not gloat. We should pray like Jesus on the cross, “Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing.” They are lost souls who need God’s love and mercy. Who knows, maybe they will repent and accept Jesus. Wisdom saves us from fear. Look at verse 19, “19 Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, 20 for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.” God is the judge. He is on control. With the wisdom of God, we do not need to fret. The wisdom of God keeps us from forming alliances with the corrupted of the world. Look at verse 21-22. “21 Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials, 22 for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?” How easy it is to team up with unsavory people, thinking that we will get rich or get some benefit from them. But it is a trap. We must be shepherds for such people, but never join with them in evil doing. The wisdom of God and the fear of God helps us to maintain the proper relationship with the world. The wisdom of God is worth more than a million dollars.

2. Be honest and don’t be lazy (23-34).

Look at verses 23-24, “23 These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judging is not good: 24 Whoever says to the guilty, ‘You are innocent,’ will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.” God is the judge of the living and the dead. He is honest and truthful and impartial in all he does. He wants us to be honest and truthful and impartial. I thank God that this Biblical constant is the basis for our legal system. (Although it is not always practiced.)
There are lessons in this passage. Look at verses 25-34, “25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them. 26 An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. 27 Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. 28 Do not testify against your neighbor without cause — would you use your lips to mislead? 29 Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.” 30 I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; 31 thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. 32 I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — 34 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.” The guilty should be punished, but not for revenge. Then there will be peace in the land. The wise learns a lesson from the sluggard whose vineyard is full of thorns and weeds. We can even learn something from those who are doing wrong. This is humility. We can even find God’s wisdom in wrong doing. A little slumber and a little sleep, and poverty will come on him.

Prayer: Lord, let me fear you and learn wisdom, and with your wisdom, be honest and work hard.

One Word: Get wisdom from God and then there is hope.