Proverbs 6: 1 - 11
Sound Advice
1 My son, if you become surety for your friend, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2 You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth. 3 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; for you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; plead with your friend. 4 Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. 5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. 6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, 8 Provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. 9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.
I am sure that you have heard the old statement, ‘brother can you spare a dime?’ We find out from today’s message that we are gullible not only in financial areas but also in life’s decisions.
1 My son, if you become surety for your friend, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2 You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth. 3 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; for you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; plead with your friend. 4 Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. 5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
We begin our study with some advice in not being ‘surety’ for others financial dealings. I think right away most of you may be saying to yourselves that you have enough common sense not to co-sign for any so called friend. However, I know of one weakness in this area in which you might find yourself valuable. It regards co-signing for your kids.
Here is one nightmare story of a father who did not know he would be responsible for a step daughter that he only supplied his income report and actually did not sign his name.
“Step-daughter wants to go to an expensive private college. Wife and her ex decide they can swing it so they apply for the loans to get her into and through school. Because I am married to her mother now the bank wants our joint income for verification purposes. When I supplied figures and signed saying that the revenue was accurate I had no idea I was also being held responsible for this loan also. Found this fact out when I got a demand for a missed payment in the mail. We still all live in the same house. That certainly made the situation awkward to say the least. This just added to the situation at home that sees her living here and working but paying no rent or support to the running of the house whatsoever. Good job, I still love her mother very much but the sooner this free loader hits the road the better.”
Do I hear any ‘Amen’s?’
There was is this prestigious law firm in Philly which was interviewing a young man for their law firm. One of the partners asked the young man to give the panel an example of his personal integrity. He thought for a few minutes and said, “Well in order to finish law school I had to borrow $100 Thousand dollars. I asked my dad to co-sign for the amount which he did. Well, just after my first case alone I paid off the amount.” The partners look at each other and nodded their affirmative to this act. Before giving the applicant their approval to him joining the firm, one of the partners asked just what case the young man was involved in to cause this re-payment. ‘Oh, the young man replied, ‘this was the case where my dad sued me to get his money back.’
If you look at the scripture verses again please note that the agreement was in words only. The guarantor had made a promise to the borrower, not the creditor. There was still time to get out of the bad deal.
Please note the verse - 5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Both the gazelle and the bird rely on speed to escape danger. This is good advice. Do it speedily even if you have to look bad in the eyes of others. You will save yourself some big headaches later.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, 8 Provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
At first glance it these verses may seem out of place. They are not. Our Great and Wonderful Holy Spirit makes no mistakes. You see from our previous review of being surety or how we can become poor by what we incorrectly do, we can also become poor by not doing things. It speaks of being lazy and slothful. We read in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 that Solomon didn’t sit around watching the grass grow, He was a busy ant, “1 To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace.”
For Solomon there was an exact time for everything. One thing a busy beaver cannot stand is a lazy no good bum. It drives them up a wall. Apparently, this is how Solomon viewed his son Rehoboam. You see this attitude in certain kinds of rich people’s kids. Their parents struggled for success and handed them a kingdom where they have never experience any want.
In Proverbs 30 verse 25 we read this, “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer”
Solomon as you know was very smart. He studied all kinds of things during his lifetime. He came away amazed at God’s little creatures. Here are some amazing things I found out about ants.
Ants are a social insect, which means they live in large colonies or groups. Some colonies consist of millions of ants.
Ants are hard workers. There are three types of ants in each species: the queen, sterile female workers, and males. Every ant has a job. Worker ants may have one job or several jobs. They may keep the same job all their lives or change jobs from time to time.
• Some workers gather food for the colony. When an ant finds food, it lays down a scent trail for others to follow to the food.
• Some ants store the food they harvest in special chambers in the nest.
• Other workers feed and care for the queen and her developing young.
• Still others build the chambers and tunnels. They use their saliva to make the dirt walls hard.
• Some worker ants are soldiers. They defend the colony and fight off their enemies (other ants or other kinds of insects).
The Bible says in the book of Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”
Here is a list of the characteristics of ants compared to a slothful person;
Ant Sluggard
. Wise . foolish
. Hard Worker . lazy
. Preservers . Likes idleness
. Cooperates . hates work
. Diligent . Know it all
. Responsible . Makes excuses
. Takes Initiative . Doesn’t finish things
. Enjoys learning . Doesn’t want to learn
9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.
This nice lesson failed to get any reaction so Solomon is disturbed at this attitude. Do you think that he is against sleep? Our Great God has given us this gift to help us re-charge our systems.
What difference could an extra hour of sleep make in your life? Maybe quite a lot, experts say. Studies show that the gap between getting just enough sleep and getting too little sleep may affect your health, your mood, your weight, and even your sex life.
If you're getting less than the recommended seven or eight hours of sleep a night, here are nine reasons that you should shut down your computer, turn off the lights, and go to bed an hour early tonight.
1. Better health. Getting a good night's sleep won't grant you immunity from disease. But study after study has found a link between insufficient sleep and some serious health problems, such as heart disease, heart attacks, diabetes, and obesity.
In most cases, the health risks from sleep loss only become serious after years. That might not always be true, however. One study simulated the effects of the disturbed sleep patterns of shift workers on 10 young healthy adults. After a mere four days, three of them had blood glucose levels that qualified as pre-diabetic.
2. Less pain. If you have chronic pain -- or acute pain from a recent injury -- getting enough sleep may actually make you hurt less. Many studies have shown a link between sleep loss and lower pain threshold. Unfortunately, being in pain can make it hard to sleep.Researchers have found that getting good sleep can supplement medication for pain. If pain is keeping you up at night, there are also medications available that combine a pain reliever with a sleep aid.
3. . Lower risk of injury. Sleeping enough might actually keep you safer. Sleep deprivation has been linked with many notorious disasters, like the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger and the grounding of the Exxon Valdez. The Institute of Medicine estimates that one out of five auto accidents in the U.S. results from drowsy driving -- that's about 1 million crashes a year.
4. Better mood. Getting enough sleep won't guarantee a sunny disposition. But you have probably noticed that when you're exhausted, you're more likely to be cranky.
5 Better weight control. Getting enough sleep could help you maintain your weight -- and conversely, sleep loss goes along with an increased risk of weight gain. Why? Part of the problem is behavioral. If you're overtired, you might be less likely to have the energy to go for that jog or cook a healthy dinner after work.
The other part is physiological. The hormone leptin plays a key role in making you feel full. When you don't get enough sleep, leptin levels drop. Result: people who are tired are just plain hungrier -- and they seem to crave high-fat and high-calorie foods specifically.
6. Clearer thinking. Have you ever woken up after a bad night's sleep, feeling fuzzy and easily confused, like your brain can't get out of first gear?
Sleep loss affects how you think, It impairs your cognition, your attention, and your decision-making. Studies have found that people who are sleep-deprived are substantially worse at solving logic or math problems than when they're well-rested. "They're also more likely to make odd mistakes, like forgetting where you left your keys.
7 Better memory. Feeling forgetful? Sleep loss could be to blame. Studies have shown that while we sleep, our brains process and consolidate our memories from the day. If you don't get enough sleep, it seems like those memories might not get stored correctly -- and can be lost.
8. Stronger immunity. Could getting enough sleep prevent the common cold? One preliminary study put the idea to the test. Researchers tracked over 150 people and monitored their sleep habits for two weeks. Then they exposed them to a cold virus.
People who got seven hours of sleep a night or less were almost three times as likely to get sick as the people who got at least eight hours of sleep a night. More research is needed to establish a real link; this study was small and other factors may have influenced the results. Still, you can’t go wrong getting eight hours of sleep when possible.
So, then what is the issue here? There is nothing wrong with a nap or proper sleep. The idea here is that the lazy many wants to sleep in order to avoid doing any work. Solomon points out that the lazy man will be powerless when poverty comes to him, just as the same experience if you walked down the street and a person pulled a gun on you and demanded your wallet or purse. They are gone in an instant.
