Proverbs 29:15-27

Proverbs 29:15-27

“Immediate gratification is the near-perfect opposite of long-term success." “The easy way now is the path to the hard way later." These sentiments are very much a theme we find in this passage.

It is the approach of the “long game” that gives us success in domestic life. In verses 15, 17, 18, and 21, for example, we see the warning that the easy way now, leads to hardship later. Verse 21 is a bit odd, and the oddity is from the word translated "son." That word appears nowhere else in the Old Testament. It may reflect a man with no heirs adopting a slave to be his heir. But the boy never learns the hard work of a slave nor the training of a son and so sinks to the lowest level of human nature.

The short-term solution is an approach to life that will fail at the social level. Verses 16, 18, 20, and 22 are examples of people who give full vent to their passions of the moment, but the results are disastrous. The application for our lives is clear: while short-term thinking has effects that are noteworthy because they are easy, the long-term goal needs to take precedence. 

“Lord, help me to have a long-term approach to life. AMEN”

Proverbs 29:1-14

Proverbs 29:1-14

There is a tendency to look at our elected officials, especially past presidents, with one eye closed. With one eye we see the good, and with the other we see the evil, depending on our party loyalties.  How we view our leaders depends on which eye we have open and which eye we have closed. John F. Kennedy was a cool-headed leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but we say little about his runaway sexual misconduct. We celebrate Abraham Lincoln as one who by force of will and arms kept the union together, but we dare not talk about his invitation to demons, by occultic practices, to come into the White House. Both parties and every generation face the challenge of what to do when we find a few good deeds done by wicked men.

In contrast, this passage gives us an example of integrity that goes to the core of a person's being. No leader is perfect, but there is a difference between the one for whom evil is an isolated aberration and the one who makes it the habit of his life. Reread this passage and keep in mind the inner character of our leaders. And not just our leader but our own inner character. Sooner or later what's on the inside will become evident. Apparently character does matter. Stormy Daniels and Monica Lewinsky will stay hidden only so long. 

“Lord, help me to develop the inner character that You desire. AMEN."