50 DAYS OF WISDOM - DAY 19 "Wisdom as Hard Work" Proverbs 10:4

SALT WATER

The day I met Paco and we surfed El Zonte AKA Bitcoin Beach

CLEAN WATER

Visiting Coffee Farm in El Salvador with my friend Brett I surf with, My Dad, My friends Mark Bell and Adam Watts who own Sur Coffee donate part of their business proceeds to help fund water projects through OCNWTR. And of course Brad Kaylor who shows up about once a year now to surf with us - Not cool dude!!! Ha

LIVING WATER

I got to baptize a friend in San Clemente at the beach

WISDOM AS HARD WORK - PROVERBS 10:4

Today I want to talk to you about wisdom as hard work.

Proverbs chapter 10:4 says, "'Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.'"

So wisdom is reflected by our hard work. So what are we talking about here?

Well, first of all, when it says that lazy hands make for poverty, what it means here is the word poor. And it means that if you're lazy, you're gonna be in want. So the first incentive towards hard work is having the things that you want. So Proverbs teaches us you should work for the things that you want. That can include your goals. That can include your desire. That can include your objectives for your life. So the Bible teaches we're supposed to work hard towards those things. We are the ones that are ultimately responsible for our goals, our desires, our vision, the things that we want in life.

So the first incentive, of course, is to not be in want. We don't wanna be poor because of our own lack of hard work. Poor defined as to be in want. What are you in want of? The things you want. So hard work leads to the things that you want.

Two, we're not to be negligent. So this word actually means two things, slack and deceit. So you're not gonna have the things that you want in life if you're literally slacking. The other word here is deceit. What this word means is that you're lying to yourself about the reasons that you're not working hard. That's very interesting. So what's it saying? It's saying that you don't have the things that you want because you're lying to yourself about the reasons why you can't get them. So the Bible teaches pretty clearly radical responsibility so that we work towards the things that we want, our goals, et cetera.

Okay, third thing then, the converse of being negligent is that, of course, you're diligent. And so to be diligent means that you're strict, you put constraints in your life, you put parameters in your life. We talk a lot about freedom in our culture. Of course, freedom only makes sense as it relates to responsibility. So typically you'll find 90% of conversations revolving around the benefits of personal freedom, but personal responsibility is what makes personal freedoms possible. So the Bible says this word is the word diligent, and it means that we're strict, disciplined, timely with our objectives. Different word, a different interpretation is the word sharp. And what that means is that you are very focused, you're working hard towards the things that you want. It means you're focused. A horse races with blinders on. This helps the horse see in one direction. So what the Bible's saying here is that we're supposed to have a total focus and to work hard on the things that we want out of life.

Okay, and then fourthly means that we're proactive. All of these things line up to being proactive. It means that the initiative for progress is completely upon us. We take the initiative. We are in charge of the progress. And then verse five takes a twist. It says that he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. Now a lot of people don't like it when we read scriptures that imply that we're disgraceful.

What we want in our culture is that everybody does whatever they want and then they're approved. It's like the idea of the participation trophy. Well, not a very good idea because it doesn't reflect equal effort.

So God grades us on our effort, our intent, the motivation that we have. And here it says that there are disgraceful sons. What does this mean? It means that because of your lack of responsibility for your hard work, because you've chosen to be negligent, you refuse to be diligent and proactive, that you should actually be ashamed and disappointed in yourself.

Now we live in a culture that doesn't teach that you should be ashamed and disappointed of yourself because we don't live in a culture that teaches radical responsibility.

Well, the Bible teaches radical responsibility. And when you accept that, you won't be ashamed and disappointed in yourself because if you choose to be proactive and you choose to be diligent, you choose to be responsible for your goals, wisdom is hard work, you'll be able to hang your head high because you're leaving it on the field every single day.

Well, thanks so much for joining in today. Until next time, I hope you have a beautiful day.