Wisdom In Work
Lessons From Proverbs • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
As you and I know there are many decisions that must be made everyday whether you are a child of God or not.
Each decision we, as children of God make, must be based on “the wisdom from above” not the “wisdom from below.”
Hence the reason we have lately been looking at “Lessons From Proverbs” with a specific look at making wise decisions.
Today, we are going to turn our attention to “Wisdom In Work” and make wise decisions in our work life.
However, before we begin this, I think it appropriate to examine what Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica.
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.
9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
Now we don’t know exactly why some in the church in Thessalonica were struggling with a desire to work.
Some have speculated and I personally think this is the case, that they thought Jesus was coming back “very soon” and why toil and work if that is the case.
Whatever the reason they weren’t working and were “walking in idleness.”
Paul, obviously, was completely against this and one of the reasons for this is that God’s word, especially in the book of Proverbs, has a lot to say on the matter.
So, what is…
The Value & Purpose Of Work
The Value & Purpose Of Work
Accomplishment & Self-Worth.
Accomplishment & Self-Worth.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden we read this as Adam’s punishment.
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Some have concluded from this that Adam “having to work” was a curse given by God to man.
This couldn’t be further from the truth as God had already been making Adam work.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
So, work was not a curse, but the amount of labor would increase because sin distorts everything, even God’s gift of work.
Now, there is no doubt that work, to some degree, gives us something to do with our time on this earth.
However, beyond that, work provides us with a “sense of accomplishment and self-worth.”
To emphasize the dignity in work Proverbs 10:4-5 teaches us…
4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. 5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
A similar proverb in Proverbs 14:23 states…
23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Both these proverbs point out the accomplishments and self-worth one gains by working hard.
The reality is “typically speaking” if we put real effort into our work, “as God would have us do” things will work out for us.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Summary
Summary
Now as we said in the beginning these proverbs are not promises but probabilities.
There are exceptions to this rule as you and I know.
There are those that toil none and deserve nothing but live quite well while there are others that work very hard and from time-to-time experience poverty.
However, as anyone that has put in a good days work you know that there is great accomplishment and satisfaction from such.
Knowing there is great value in hard work leads us to consider what the “Book of Wisdom” has to say about its opposite, laziness.
As you can imagine there is a lot to say about laziness.
So, what is…
The Reality Of Laziness
The Reality Of Laziness
The Sluggard.
The Sluggard.
A sluggard is someone that is completely opposite of the hard-working person as he is lazy and has no motivation.
He is so lazy that he never wants to get out of bed.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?
He just keeps tossing back in forth in it.
14 As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.
He is so lazy that when he reaches into the cookie jar to get a cookie, he is too tired to bring it to his mouth.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
However, as you and I know, there is always that person, that bleeding heart, that is willing to hire the sluggard and give him a third, forth, fifth, and so on chance.
Unfortunately, the sluggard will eventually make even that boss regret hiring him.
26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.
Why does any boss grow tired and live to regret hiring a sluggard, because he always has an excuse for not coming to work.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”
And yet the sluggard doesn’t see himself as such, no, he sees himself as wiser than seven wise men.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.
Now we must be careful not to assume the sluggard has no dreams or ambitions.
The sluggard has dreams and has ambitions but lacks the motivation to accomplish them.
4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
There is a real disconnect between what the sluggard wants and what he is willing to work for.
4 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
We must also not assume that a sluggard cannot learn and change through wise teachings.
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.
The reality of being a sluggard, however, is when they are given wise advice and ample help and they often reject it (make a bad decisions) and find themselves in dire situations.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
Summary
Summary
The sluggard runs the danger, the hazard if you will of idleness, is poverty and want.
Without an ant-like diligence the sluggard pays a great price for his laziness.
Now before we stop this study, I do want to point out another biblical fact of wisdom from the book of Proverbs.
That is that there is such a thing as…
Working Too Much.
Working Too Much.
Stop & Smell The Roses.
Stop & Smell The Roses.
As we have just seen “hard work” is a characteristic of God’s children and is encouraged but God also expects us to have a balance in our lives between work and relaxation.
In other words, our focus shouldn’t always be on work and the funds it supplies but that we should stop and enjoy life “and those funds” while we have them.
4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. 5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
Some people, even God’s children, can get so caught up in how hard they are working and the need for a possessions that they lose sight of what our life is to consist of.
15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Summary
Summary
So the wise person understands the need to “stop and smell the roses” from time to time and enjoy the life God has blessed us with.
Our families will appreciate it very much as well.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So, when it comes to working hard, we as God’s children, should have this characteristic about us.
No Christian should ever give anyone the cause to call them a sluggard or idle for we know the great dangers that arise out of such a lifestyle.
With that said, we also should take time to truly enjoy the blessings God has blessed us with.
To take time to relax and enjoy this life given us by our Creator.
Both hard work and relaxation are not mutually exclusive and both in our lives will make us more harmonious in our spiritual walk as well.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.