Proverbs 13:1-10

All right. Well, good morning. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. So good to have you here today. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature, and I promise you we will do that. Sorry for being a little bit inconsistent over the past few Mondays.
We We've had sickness going through the house so Olivia tested positive and she was in quarantine and then just trying to kind of manage the kids while she was in isolation. Since then we've had some other illness going through the family and so I just be praying for us with our health and but there's a lot of people who are really suffering with some pretty severe cases of COVID and stuff. So I just wanted to explain to you and be honest with you, as I've been trying to do dad alone and house alone and homeschool and everything else, this has been difficult to stay on top of at a regular time like normal. But Olivia's out of quarantine, so I think we're going to be able to get more consistent with when we do this.
So why don't we go ahead and pray. We'll get into God's Word. Lord, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your word We pray that as we read it this afternoon that you would be our teacher We pray that we would follow after you and love you in Jesus name. Amen All right.
We're at proverbs chapter 13 verses 1 through 10 A wise son heeds his father's instruction But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. What is this saying? This is saying that if you're a good student, if you're a good son, you're going to listen to your dad.
But a scoffer doesn't listen to rebuke. But somebody who thinks they know it all isn't going to listen. No matter how much they're instructed, no matter how much they're disciplined, I just know it all. Don't be a know-it-all son. Listen to the rebuke. This isn't just in when your dad goes away, but whoever that authority is and over you, right? Listen, take it in. How can I do things better?
A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence. He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction. Be careful what you say. The book of James talks about our tongue as an unwieldy fire, just a little small part of our body that can destroy our entire livelihood. How many people think about today in our current, whatever you think of the cancel culture things, How many things have people said today in small comments to people years ago that are now being dug up and governors losing jobs, congressmen losing their seats, news anchors kicked off TV because of things they said years ago, right? But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction. We cannot say whatever we want. We need to be careful how we use our words.
They bring life. The soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. If you want things, go work. I hate to be so blunt here, but that's what this is saying. The soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing. The lazy person sits on their couch and just, oh man, I really want that stuff on that commercial. I really want this thing. Oh, I really want that thing, but isn't willing to get up off the couch. their zeal stops at their desires, versus the righteous person, they work.
Verses 5 and 6, a righteous man hates lying, but a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame. Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but wickedness overthrows a sinner. The righteous hate lying. That's just a really powerful statement right there. If you are a follower of God, you hate lies. Why? Because Satan is the father of lies, and we love what our father loves, and our father hates lying. So we hate lies. Do you hate lies? Do you uphold the truth? That's the point of the ninth commandment of not bearing false testimony against our neighbor. That's the paradigm, right? That we love truth rather than what might be convenient.
Verses seven, verse seven, sorry. There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing. And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches. It's better to be humble and not boast in your wealth and have much than to boast in all you have and not have anything. I was talking to our kids about this the other day. You can be car rich and bank poor, right? There are people who want to flaunt their wealth. They want to show it. They want to wear the nice clothes. They want to drive the newest car. They want to have the nicest stuff. They want to have the biggest and best house.
All the reality that they're swimming in debt. all the reality that they they don't have money to pay their normal bills they have all they want to spend on all the luxuries that people can see but in all reality they're poor there's one who makes himself poor yet has great riches i want to say this even more spiritually than practically here this is exactly what jesus christ did didn't didn't he Philippians chapter 2 tells us that it was Jesus Christ, even though he was the king of the universe and equal with God, he did not count this as something to be grasped, but humbled himself in the likeness of the man.
Jesus Christ himself, though he was God, humbled himself and became man and earned the crown that he would wear forever. The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor does not hear rebuke, right? If you're rich, you can get out of a lot of things.
But the reality is, the sad thing in this life, if you don't have, you kind of, there's a cycle that happens in poverty. And I mean, this is good wisdom here that God has given to us, that Solomon has given to his son, right? If you spend your wealth, you're always going to be chasing your poverty. It's just like this downward spiral.
Verse 9, the light of the righteous rejoices but the lamp of the wicked will be put out. This is such a beautiful contrast to what we find in the Psalms, right? The psalmist cries out to God and they say, God, why do the wicked get what it seems like the righteous should get? And why are the righteous getting what the wicked should get? And here in Proverbs chapter 13, it gives us this principle.
The light of the righteous rejoices, but the wicked, the lamp of the wicked will be put out. Though our light might just be a little tiny ember, it's going to stay. and God's gonna fan it into flames, and it's gonna be there forever, but the light of the wicked, it's eventually gonna be put out, for it is appointed for every man to die, and after this, the judgment. Every man's going to die eventually, but the light of the righteous will never be put out. Though we die, we will live forever.
Verse 10, by pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom. All right. Have you ever met a prideful person? Always a one-upper, always thinking that they're the best. Causes nothing but fights. Friction and fighting versus when there's humility.
What does verse 13 or verse 10 say? But with the well-advised is wisdom. But the person who's willing to go, okay, let me hear all sides of the story. Okay, what happened in this situation is willing to dig deeper and get more information and then form an opinion from there, not just assuming that they're right right away. There's peace with that person. Well, why don't we go ahead and pray.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. Lord, we thank you for the practical wisdom that you give us. Lord, we thank you that your spirit works these truths in our hearts. Father, we pray that we would know them in our lives and practice them. Lord, we pray that you would conform us more and more to the image of Jesus who lived every one of these perfectly. In his name we pray. Amen. Well, may you trust in Jesus Christ. May your light never be put out. May you walk in the wisdom that God's given us today. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.