Joyce Meyer - Watch Sermon: Keys to Marriage - Part 2

Joyce Meyer - Watch Sermon: Keys to Marriage - Part Wisdom

Proverbs 6:1-11

Warnings Against Folly

6My son, if you have put up security for your neighbour,
||if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
||ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,
||since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—
||and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
||no slumber to your eyelids.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
||like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
||consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
||no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
||and gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
||When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
||a little folding of the hands to rest —
11 and poverty will come on you like a thief
||and scarcity like an armed man.

Commentary

Master self-discipline

The book of Proverbs gives you practical wisdom on how to make the most of your life and how to avoid wasting it by falling into various traps. In the passage for today we see two examples:

1. Master your finances

One of the areas of life that requires self-discipline is our finances. There are always plenty of financial traps and snares – such as unmanageable debt, unwise investment and foolish pledges. The writer urges you that, if you have got yourself into a financial muddle (vv.2–5), you should do everything in your power to get out of it as soon as possible: ‘Don’t waste a minute’ (v.3, MSG).

You may have to humble yourself (v.3b). You may have to plead your case (v.3c). Do everything in your power to free yourself from these snares (v.5). If we don’t get our finances sorted out it can have a very detrimental effect on our lives and on our families.

2. Master your time

We can waste our lives through a lack of self-discipline. Without accountability we can easily become lazy, and this can have disastrous consequences (vv.9–11). We can learn self-leadership from the ant; nobody tells it what to do. ‘It has no commander, no overseer or ruler’ (v.7), yet it works extremely hard: ‘It stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest’ (v.8).

Of course, it is important to get enough sleep. Our bodies need rest. But we need to be careful not to waste our time in unproductive activity.

Prayer

Lord, give me wisdom in the handling of my finances and my time.