LifeLink Devotions 

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

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Maybe you have heard the adage, “Give a person a fish, and feed him for a day: teach a person to fish, and feed him for a lifetime.” That bit of wisdom has one unstated implication that is very important – the person who is taught to fish needs to take action and catch fish to be fed. Teaching doesn’t feed him. Fishing doesn’t even feed him. Catching feeds him. People starve on good intentions. What we need is production. We need fish in the fry pan.

Compare the following two passages of Scripture. Both people described in them have the same opportunity for success. Both have been provided a means of making a living. One has sheep and the other has grapevines. One will make it, one will not. What are the principles from this Wisdom of Solomon that determine who does and who does not have some degree of financial security?

Proverbs 27:23-27  “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you and your family and to nourish your servant girls.”

Proverbs 24:30-34  “I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”

From the first passage, here are some Principles for Financial Security.

1.      Be diligent to take care of what you already have: make the most of what you have been given. “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;”

2.      Recognize the temporary nature of wealth: without discipline and proper management it will not last. “for riches do not endure forever,”

3.      Do not assume that past successes guarantee future success without increased knowledge and effort.  “a crown is not secure for all generations.”

4.      Do your work in a timely and energetic way, applying yourself wholeheartedly until the task is completed. Solomon reminds us to make hay while the sun shines. “When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in…”

5.      Use your income to provide for your basic needs first. “The lambs will provide you with clothing, and you will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you and your family and to nourish your servant girls.”

6.      Use your increase to improve your financial security. Selling the goats provided him with the price of a field.

From the second passage, here are the Characteristics of a Financial Failure

1.      Laziness – “I went past the field of the sluggard”

2.      Poor decision-making ability – “past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;”

3.      No discipline to do a job when it needs to be done – “thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.”

4.      A progressive downward spiral into pleasing self by resting whenever it is convenient  – “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest”

5.      Is oblivious to the consequences and takes no personal responsibility for causing them – “and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”

Let’s all take some quality time today to reflect on our attitudes towards work, and let the Holy Spirit teach us. But don’t stop there. Put it into action! You’ll feed yourself for a lifetime.

Pastor John