Mutual Support of Fellowship – Lean on me

Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:         

There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother.  

There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.   

He asked:

“For whom am I toiling, and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”

This too is meaningless— a miserable business! 

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

·        If one falls down, his friend can help him up. 

(But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up)

·        Also, if two lie down together, they’ll keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?  

·        Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

·        A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  (^E4.7-12)

This passage is from Ecclesiastes.  It was written by King Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived) when he was already an old man.  It is depressing to some people, because he constantly points out the meaninglessness & misery of this life.  He’s tried it all, and it’s all pointless. 

I find the truth of his wisdom here to be refreshing as a disciple of Jesus … because although this life is meaningless and temporary … I want to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6.19-21). Those who invest in this life will find it depressing.  Those who are invested in the next life will find it easier to avoid earthly temptations. 

In this section Solomon has us thinking about our relationships in terms of mutual support.  Consider this for our relationships with one another.  If we are constantly open, accountable and helpful with each other, we can form the “cord of three strands” that is hard to break.  I’m an introvert by nature, but even I can attest to the truth of this lesson.  I prefer to keep my own company, but going solo is dangerous if anything goes wrong, because there’s no one there to help.  And since Jesus said it’s more blessed to give than to receive, flying solo is really selfish and not as blessed as helping our brother or sister. 

Will you help someone today?  Or will you be like many "Christians," and wonder where everyone is who should be helping you?  Feeling sorry for yourself is not the victorious lifestyle of a committed disciple.  

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
"Love your neighbor as yourself"
"It's more blessed to give than to receive" 
- Jesus, the Anointed One

Friends & Brothers

Learn from these sayings of wisdom from Proverbs.  Pay close attention.  Remember that in Proverbs usually a “brother” is a physical brother, not a spiritual one like we may find in the N.T.  But considering ourselves as spiritual brothers and sisters … and sometimes also friends … we can learn what God wants (and what He hates), and how our relationships as brothers, sisters and friends ought to look. 

Pray that God will give you insight into this, and then act on it!

A righteous [just] man is cautious in friendship...

               ...but the way of the wicked leads them astray.  ^12.26

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  ^17.17

An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment.  ^18.1

A man of many companions may come to ruin,

…but there’s a friend who sticks closer than a brother ^18.24

Don’t make friends with a hot-tempered man, don’t associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.  ^22.24

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.  ^27.6

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel. 

Don’t forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and don’t go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.  ^27.9-10

There are 6 things Yahweh hates, 7 that are detestable to him:

1.                haughty eyes,

2.                a lying tongue,

3.                hands that shed innocent blood,

4.                a heart that devises wicked schemes,

5.                feet that are quick to rush into evil,

6.                a false witness who pours out lies

7.                And a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.  (^6.16-19)

Don't be Friends with Gluttons

Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of Yahweh always.  Surely there is a future, & your hope won’t be cut off.   Listen and be wise, & direct your heart in the way.

Don’t be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, & drowsiness will clothe one with rags.  Prov 23:17-21                                                                                                              

Part 3 of 3 - Avoid Fat People? 

Today we think in terms of fat or skinny, fit or flabby.  It’s always about our looks - looking attractive.  Of course fat religious people look down their noses at those who would ever drink, and the world sees drunkenness only as a “problem” or not.  We are told to “drink responsibly” (whatever that means).

Wisdom is different than the world or “Christian” religions.  She teaches us a better way.  She teaches us that sensual pleasures (eating & drinking) are not ‘bad’ or ‘good,’ but as wise or foolish.  Overdoing it regularly is foolish.  When we envy sinners (those who overdo it), we tend to hang out with them and rationalize bad habits.  Just like Israel’s young people did at Moab (Numbers 25:1-9 & 1 Corinthians 10:8).

As servants of the Most High, we ought to see ourselves as His “servant/soldier/athletes.”  Mastering our own appetites means that we can choose when, where, and what to eat or drink, and we don’t allow our worldly flesh to make that decision for us.  When we eat or drink something just because we “want” it – we are letting our desires (want) master us.  (2 Peter 2.19; John 8:34; Romans 6:16)

Controlling our appetite is even harder when we hang out with gluttons.  They are constantly “selling” us food by telling us how good it is, or how it’ll hurt their feelings if we don’t eat with them and behave as foolishly as they do. 

Jesus disobeyed this proverb.  He ate with sinners, and was even called a glutton and a drunk (Luke 7.34).  So what gives?  Remember that Jesus came “to seek and save the lost,” and that he was going to sinners because he was leaving the ninety-nine to save the one.  Jesus was with them – but He wasn’t one of them.  His mastery of his own flesh was so great that he could go to them and offer them a way out of their situation.  It might be suggested that a young disciple today may want to visit strip clubs and save the girls.  But would that be wise, or would he be tempted too greatly while there? 

I struggle with gluttony, and when I attend church potlucks and things like that, they make it practically impossible for me not to join them in their dissipation.  The leaders of these so-called Christian groups are often fat men who have never controlled their appetites for food and laziness, and so they even add more of these events.  Without (apparently) knowing it, these fat, lazy men are doomed and condemning others because their appetite is their god (Philippians 3.19) and have their minds set on earthly things.  They try to make rules to restrict behavior because they don’t understand that this does not work (Colossians 2.20-23). 

Combining the lessons of Jesus & Wisdom, we should learn this: if you’re strong enough to rescue people from an addiction like drugs, immorality, alcohol or food – then that’s your job.  If you struggle with it yourself, then stay away from those people!  Don’t be foolish.  A bar full of drunks has no appeal to me.  I have no desire to be drunk, so I can go there and experience zero temptation.  But put me at a potluck full of fat lazy “Christians,” and I’m in deep trouble.  So if I’m wise, I’ll defy the social conventions of modern religion.  If I’m wise, you’ll find me at a bar, a bike race or a triathlon – more often than you will with a bunch of fat “good” people who tempt me to sin. 

What about you?  Will you be wise enough to avoid those who can tempt you?  Are you willing to avoid even your friends or relationships that might be poisonous?  

Don’t be deceived: bad company corrupts good morals.  Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 

(1 Cor 15:33-34)

The Way You Choose

Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of Yahweh always.  Surely there is a future, & your hope won’t be cut off.
  Listen and be wise, & direct your heart in the way.
 Don’t be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, & drowsiness will clothe one with rags Prov. 23:17-21

Part Two of Three

The passage continues in the third line by telling us to do three things:

• ·        Listen
• ·        Be wise
• ·        Direct your heart in the way

Listen

How many times in the Proverbs does the wise woman named “wisdom” beg us to listen to her?  She knows how much she could bless our lives, but we refuse her gift.  Read Proverbs 1.20-33, and read it carefully and closely.  In fact, pray over it and ask God to help you listen.

Be Wise

We aren’t wise, yet, so how do we obey this?  Let’s word it another way: “Don’t be foolish.”  In this case, envying others who seem to have what we don’t is an example of foolishness.  There are many other examples of foolishness in Proverbs.  Will you try to grow out of foolishness, or will you foolishly let this opportunity pass you by?

Direct your heart in THE WAY …

We tend to think of our relationship with God as being right or wrong – being in His “club” (church) or not.  But the scriptures consistently describe our lives as being in “The Way,” or “the way of the Lord.”  In fact in the first days of the disciples, the one true church of Christ was called “The Way” (Acts 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22; etc).  This is because it’s helpful to think of your life as a journey.  When you choose wise paths, the traveling is easier and you can go faster.  True, you don’t get as many stops for snacks … but you don’t end up in the bushes of folly, either.

Is it a sin to drink too much and drive?  Maybe – but even if it’s not, it’s foolish, because you may end up in a ditch or killing someone or other bad things.  Our lives are like that.  We choose to be people-pleasers or to be God-pleasers.  We can choose to be like everyone else and take the wide road, or we can choose the pathway of wisdom that goes through the narrow gate and leads to eternal life.

Which way will you choose?

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” – Jesus (Matthew 7:13-14)

Don't let Your Heart Envy

Don’t let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the fear of Yahweh always
Surely there is a future, & your hope won’t be cut off.  

Listen ... and be wise, & direct your heart in the way.  

Don’t be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, & drowsiness will clothe one with rags  (Proverbs 23:17-21)

Lesson from this section

We’re surrounded by it in OC: happy people, rich people, nice cars, people with great relationships, perfect marriages, happy kids, and admirable jobs.  But this “success” is actually little more than a flood of temptation thrown in our faces by evil. 

We may console ourselves in the knowledge that money doesn’t buy happiness, or we may see the happy couple and suspect that in private they’re not so happy … but it can be hard to shake the idea that everyone seems to have it better than we do!  “Everyone else gets what they want,” a foolish woman said.

Rather than envying others (or trying to mentally cut them down) … just do what the Father advises: rather than envy, replace it with fear of Yahweh.  Instead of trying to resist temptation … focus on fearing God, worshipping God, and loving God.  If all your focus is on being pleasing to God and hearing the six words … envy will melt in the fire of your zeal as if by magic. 

Don’t believe God about this?  Why? 

When has He ever given you reason not to trust Him?

Go ahead … focus on God, starting with fear.  See what happens to your envy issues. 

I dare you. 

Here We Go Again

You’ve probably heard this quote:

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana

It seems to be a favorite among history teachers, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately as I’ve studied the prophets.  When Jesus came to earth, he made it clear that the abuse he endured was exactly the same as that of the prophets, and he also said that if we were like him, we’d also be persecuted just like the prophets (Luke 6.22-23). 

But what about personal history?  Are you learning lessons from your own history?  Have you ever seen a guy who keeps getting into bad relationships, and it seems like he never learns?  What about people who keep repeating other mistakes over and over and over again?  The alcoholic keeps on drinking.  The drug addict continues to make excuses that sound very much like those of the glutton who eats way more than her body needs.  We keep friendships and relationships that we know are bad for us.  We procrastinate, make excuses and have all sorts of reasons why we just keep doing the same stupid things. 

Is this you?

 Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
Proverbs 26:11

When God got tired of Israel’s misbehavior, He sent pain.  They were slaughtered and plundered by their enemies, and taken away as captives.  God had His house among them in Israel, and even allowed that to be destroyed.  There were plagues and pestilence, locusts and drought. 

What does it take to get your attention? 

Will you force God to love you enough to bring the pain, or will you never change, or will you be wise and make up your mind to repent (change) now – and go “all-in” for God? 

I know the answer for most of you, because I know history.  Most of you will be like the dog who returns to eat his own puke.  Most will never learn from their own history.  And the result is lots and lots of struggle and hardship for the rest of your life.  It’s your choice, of course, but I know what most of you will choose.  Most people choose to sing the foolish song, “Oops, I did it again.” 

Ask God & your true friends (fellow disciples) to help you.  Make up your mind to change.  And do it now, because it'll never get easier than it is today - change only gets harder.