Wisdom For Everyday Life: Proverbs 20:1-30

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible guys. Oh that was exciting. Yeah, A little tappy tap, a little bit of percussion. Yeah. You know what I realized. I realized that I am impressed with tap dancing. Really, that was not what I was expecting my day to begin today with. You know something, Let's let's make sure this is relevant for the youngsters today. I really enjoyed tap dancing. I didn't say enjoy I said I'm impressed. Impressed with impressing. I do enjoy it, but not not doing it. I'm seeing it. You watched too many old musicals. I went to Broadway show on Sunday and there was a there was a bit inside the show and uh. And I went to see Mean Girls and Intown Detroit and there was this guy and he was a bigger guy. He was actually quite big, and he moved. Have you ever seen a bigger guy who moves like an athlete? This guy like move like football players. You know what I mean, right, like like I don't mean bigger as in life, so big football players. No, they are not moving like athletes. Big dancers on stage, they move like athletes. Is that the message you're sending. I'm saying they used to be an athlete. As opposed to big football players who are currently athletes. Dude, if you're talking about linemen, linemen don't have like a wide range. All I'm saying is a guy singing and dancing on stage who looks like an athlete is different from an actual big app Okay, but go ahead. I'm sorry. I feel like I derailed you. I have met lineman who could barely walk, but they do their job because they weighed three hundred and fifty pounds. Okay, anyway, this guy, but this guy can dance very big. But the big guy and couldn't dance, but he was a light on his feet. Yes much so okay, anyway, So you started tap dancing, and I was like, this is amazing because you don't really see tap dancing in today's day and age. No. No, And I was like, when I did this, you're impressed. When I went like that, I thought of. Tap dancing, You're impressed with tap dancing. I actually am okay, very much. The wonderful mind of Zar ba. There you have it. Folks, Hey man, you've never had that. Thought, I don't think so. Have you ever seen tap dancing? Absolutely? And you never think, wow, that's impressive. Always think who took the time to learn that skill? You know how long it took to develop that skill? And in what world did his parents? Hey? Son, you know, if you work real hard, you could be a dentist, or a lawyer or a doctor. No, Mom, I. Figured it out. I want. I know what I want to spend my life doing. I want to sing and dance. Not only sing and dance, I want to tap dance. Stop. And they're like, chase your dream son. Wow. So when I watched tap dancing, always think who took them to learn that? Oh that's really funny. That's really funny. But anyways, anyway. Okay, but when I watch Aligneman play football, I'm like. Okay, this is art. I have a fear. I have a feeling this conversation will never go my way. Well, anyways, no matter what I do, it's not gonna go big three hundred fifty pounds line. And I'm like, what an artist? That's time well spent? All right, here we go, all right? Anyways, have dancing. It's one of your favorite things. Relevant. Yes, I didn't say one of my favorite things. I said, okay, so anyways, sorry this is. Let me just read, but doesn't right, there's no transition. We are officially less than two weeks away from Christmas. So let's do a draft list to our favorite activities. You walk, paper scissors to find out who gets the first draft pick and go into you have five activities. We're going to do this quick because we got to hustle. We got a hustle. Ready, w what did you do? Shoot? Ready? One? Two? Three? Shoots? Oh? I was scissors. He was Rocky West. I was because I was on a roll there for a while. I do. All right, here's my first one. My first one is there's there seems to never be a Christmas that has passed in my family where we do not either drive through a lighting show or walk through a lighting show. Yeah. That's one of my wife's favorite things. We do it all the time. Yeah, yeah, that's my. First favorite thing. Okay, one of my favorite things. I love helping pass out presents. I love it. Oh yeah, yeah, it's fun. The delight of that running around, digging through the pile trying to figure out who's for who and shaking it going out and remember what's in here? Yeah, you know that kind of stuff that's fun. My number two is going to be I grew up observing a lot of the Italian traditions because I'm fifty percent Italian, but I didn't ever grow up. You know, I'm also fifty percent German, and so the German piece of me didn't. We didn't really do a lot of German traditions, right. But the one German tradition that I do and every year my kids absolutely love it, is there's a pickle. It's called something. Oh, I can't believe it's grishwins gershon. I'm gonna have to look at it. Anyway, The point is is that we thank you, you do it, Okay, I got there, so anyway, The point is is that we open all the presents and then we have an extra present, and the person who gets the extra present has to find the pickle on the ornament. That's an ornament pickle. So the kids will leave and then we'll literally it's green so it looks like the tree, and I'll hide the pickle somewhere in the tree. Then we say go, they all run back in and they just race to find the pickle the gir and whoever finds the gurk on first gets. That's a good one. That's a fun little tradition. I like to help do the cooking. Oh yeah, nice, So whatever the big meal is, I like to help do the cooking. I like the smells of Christmas Thanksgiving. Yeah. Like the third. One is we always order Christmas pajamas. We do it on Christmas Eve and then we take pictures. Yeah, my wife always does that for the kids too. Yeah, there's always. So that's that's my third. Okay for me, I think I don't know, boy, I'm out of things for Christmas Christmas music. I like, we like the Christmas music, like Christmas Day Christmas music. Okay, all right after Thanksgiving. I don't think you should be listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Yeah, well, I'd stop it. The only thing I allow, okay before Thanksgiving is music because I think that music sort of has taken over Thanksgivings listening. He's listening to thanks Christmas music and tap dancing before Thanksgiving? Yes, yes, well I mean in this Thanksgiving I did. Anyway, here's my fourth one. My fourth one is when I was little, my father, in order to help us clean up, he would he would pretend that a trash bag was I don't know why, but he would call it a monkey, even though it looks like if you're going to use it as a mouth, it's more like a hippopotamus or something, right, I don't know why, but he would say, feed the monkey, and and and we would. We would run around with all the Christmas wrappers, right, because you know, everybody wraps and pick it. So so in order to keep a clean house. As we unwrapped, he would say, feed the monkey. And he's a and that's what I do with my kids. So if I don't do it, everybody's radically disappointed. So I hold the trash bag and I say feed the monkey, and then they throw it, throw it over. And when I do. That, that's that's fun. It is fun, all right. So that was three? Was that four piece? That's four for me, four for you? So I have to have one more. No, no, we're supposed to five. Oh it doesn't say five. It does. It's a draft list of your favorite Christmas activities. Oh until you two, you have five activities? Okay, So my fifth one would the leftovers. I love like the leftovers going up making leftovers. Well, it's not your fifth one's your fourth one, but. That's my fourth one. We ended it fourth. Okay, we'll do four. Okay for four love leftovers Christmas leftover. Because we talked half the time about that, Dan. Well, I didn't bring it up. I did not bring it up. Yeah. And then honorable mention for me is reading Luke chapter two, going to Ohio afterwards the next day. Oh and then can you hold your breath that whole time? Yeah? Well, okay, that's it. Honorable mentioned for me would be Christmas services. So for thirty something years, just doing a good jillion Christmas services. Yeah, sure. Okay. We are in Proverbs chapter twenty and Solomon is continuing his one liners with regard to why's living. How to live a wise life? So he says in verse one, wine produces mockers, alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise. The king's fury is like a lion's roar. To rouse his anger is to risk your life. Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor. Only fools insist on coraling those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest. Though good advice lies deep within the heart, a person with understanding will draw it out. Many will say they are loyal friends, But who can find one who is truly reliable? The godly walk with integrity. Blest are their children who follow them. When a king sits in judgment, he weighs all the evidence, distinguishing the bad from the good. Who can say, I have cleansed my heart, and I am peer and free from sin? False weights and unequal measures. The Lord detests double standards of every kind. Even children are known by the way they act, whether they conduct, whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right. Ears to hear and eyes to see both are gifts from the Lord. If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open and there will be plenty to eat. The buyer haggles over the price, saying it's worthless, and then brags about getting a bargain. Wise words are more valuable than much gold, and many rubies get security from someone who guarantees the stranger's debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners, Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth. Plans succeed through good counsel. Don't go to war without wise advice. A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don't hang around with chatterers. If you insult your father a mother, your light will be snuffed out in total darkness. And inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end. Don't say I will get even for this wrong. Wait for the Lord and handle the matter. Wait for the Lord to handle the matter right. Wait for the Lord and handle the matter is very different than wait for the Lord to handle the matter. The Lord detests double standards, not pleased by dishonest scales. The Lord directs our steps, So why try to understand everything along the way. Don't trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost. A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat, and then runs his threshing wheel over them. The Lord's light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive. Unfailing love and faithfulness protect the king. His throne is made secure through love. The glory of the young is their strength. The gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old. Physical punishment cleanses away evil. Such discipline purifies the heart. Oh yeah, well, there you go. Physical punishment cleanses away evil, physical punishment. Wow, did you know that there's actually a verse that says, you know, you know, you remember the big debate as a young parent to spank or not to spank. It wasn't a debate for us, but I understand. That the debate either for us. But what I'm saying is there is a debate, right, Okay, yes there is a debate in elsewhere. But did you know there's actually a verse that says, spank your child, he won't die. There's a verse that actually says that. Absolutely, it's hilarious. But there's a difference between So there's a place where God designed you're not going to die if you get spanked there. But that's not beating the body, right right, right, right, So there's a when you spank on the place that has the most cushioning on the entire body, that's just getting a kids attention, as opposed to you know, beating their ribs, hitting them in the back, you know, all over. Beating a child is different than yeah, you know, swats on the rear, right, yeah, you know. By the way, so I was, I was spanked as a kid, and uh and then also we we did we did spankings, not very often, but we did. But do you know that one we did it for sport. I'm joking somebody. One of the things that my this. We were bored Fridays, we didn't have anything to do, we were poor, so we just spanked our kids. That's so funny. And of course you're joking once again. But you know what my wife would always say. She'd say, hey, you know, if we're going to discipline our children in this way, she goes, what we're going to do is we're going to hug them afterwards. You ever did that? Yeah, so we did is we did spanking and then and afterwards it was always an embrace with and I love you and here's the reason why and everything else. So it was always like, uh, it was always a discipline that everybody you know that the kids hated obviously, but at the same time, there's nothing they could have done to misunderstand it. Yeah. Yeah, my wife and I we we we worked hard to never discipline in anger. Yeah, right, so go to your room. It's coming kind of a thing while we calm down or whatever. And then oftentimes I can remember multiple times, you know, really having kind of a broken heart about the situation and say, you know that, and have to remind myself that this is I my child enough to correct my child. And so especially when they're very young, when they're younger, you know, not when they're fifteen, that's a different thing at that point. But when you have a young child one, it doesn't take as much exertion and it doesn't take as much physical right, a couple of swats because that child, what you want to do is bend that child's will back to yours. Right, so there will is bent away from you. And so then this that's the phrase there that this fun is. You know, physical punishment cleanses away evil. Such discipline piers of purifies heart. It's about recapturing their heart. There are consequences to bad behavior, but I love you, right, and so I'm not going to let you go down that path. And what I think we have in a society day because of that debate about you know, disciplining our children in years past, we have a society of people who don't really believe that there's consequences to their bad behavior. But if you are around a child who was biblically disciplined, I'm not saying abused discipline. Most of those children and most of those adults have a strong sense that there are consequences to bad behavior, right, And and so what you're trying to do is like that verse we read the other day where Solomon said a couple of days ago where sounds the discipline your children early because you know you're going to run out of opportunities to correct them. And that's that's what it's hope, Yeah, while there's still hope. Yeah, And that's really the idea, is that you're not abusing them, you're just moving their heart back to yours. Yeah. Another thing that stands out for me is there's a lot of verses in this chapter about honesty, right, Oh yeah, yeah, there's there's there's a lot that talks about you know, false weights and measures, dishonest scales, stolen bread that tastes sweet but it turns to gravel in the mouth. But what a heck of a what a heck of a word picture that is, Yeah, that's true. Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth, and and and that would be like the instant gratification of obtaining something in a bad way, eventually turning to what misery right, turning to you know, guilt right, and then maybe even consequences right, but gravel in your mouth? Holy cow? What a picture from sweet bread to grovel right? Wow? So you know, the verse four always gets my attention. With those too lazy to plow in the right season, I'll have no food in the harvest. There's an order to life. Yeah, you do things in the right way, in the right order, and you can. Expect a good harvest. A lot of times people get things out of order and then are surprised that either they're harvesting the wrong thing or that there wasn't anything there for them when it was time. Right. And so you have to have the wherewithal, you have to have the energy, And a lot of times I'll have young people looking for advice on I just don't even know what I'm going to do with my life. I don't even know where I'm going to go in life. I don't know what I want out of life. And I'm like, well, then you need to learn a few things. You need to learn a strong work ethic. You need to learn integrity, need to learn to walk with God, how to pray, how to study the Bible. And then always say you need some basic business ideas and you need some good customer service. So if you don't know anything else, do those five things right. And what you're doing is you're plowing today, right, right, So all you're doing is preparing the field today. That's what plowing is. So plowing is not planting. Plowing is not fertilizing. Plowing is not pulling the weeds and making sure that the plants grow well or giving them good sunshine and good rain. Plowing is not harvesting. Plowing is just preparing the field, getting it ready to be able to receive everything else that's going to be necessary. And there is a natural time in your life when you're young like that, you know, as you're coming into adulthood, where there are just basic things that every field needs, and so you need those things. Learn to walk with God, Learn to have a we're good work ethic, Learn to have integrity and do the right thing. Learn some basic business concepts. You know how to balance your books, whatever, how to manage money and then learn good. Custom my service. Those things will carry you through in any direction in your life later. So plow the field today, you'll be able to have a harvest later. That's great. Hey, there's another verse here that says the buyer haggles over the price, saying it's worthless. And I love egs about getting a bargain. I got a funny story. When I was in college, I bought you remember Chevy Barrettas. Yes, yeah, I bought a Chevy Barretta and I let the oil run out and ruined the engine, and my father in law paid for and installed a brand new engine, went to the junk yard, you know, had somebody to do it for him obviously, and throw this engine in and then he bought me this, you know. So I had this car at nineteen eighty eight, Chevy Barretta in the early nineties, but the engine was was newer, it had less miles, so it turned out that it was pretty good. So anyway, I took it to my first church, had it for like six or seven years, this Chevy Barretta, and it came time where my father in law, who at the time doesn't anymore. But at the time, he had a ton of money and he was, you know, just being generous with us. Wanted to give us a car. He said, hey, he goes, just go ahead and turn around and sell that Baretta for whatever you can get it for, and then give me the money and I'll give you this. You know, this brand new Buick Electra is what he gave us. And I was like, okay, and it was new or whatever. So anyway, so I go to the head deacon of my church and his son was also like a student of mine who is now in Bible College, and he goes, hey, I want to buy this car for my son. And now knowing that my in laws had a ton of money, I decided on my own to do something that I shouldn't have done. The car's worth like fifty five hundred. I said, oh, you can have it for four grant. I should have done that, right, I should have tried to get a good deal, right, But I was, you know, I was thinking, hey, my fun in law won't care, right, he's got a ton of money. And then he comes back to me and he goes, how about thirty five hundred, but he knows what it's worth right, right, And I said, and so here's what I say. That's fine, right, And so I give it to him for thirty five hundred, thinking I'm just really trying to be a blessing, right, And my father in law was paying the expense. So my father in law goes, you only got thirty five hundred, and I said, well, you know, he's a good guy. He's or head deacon, you know whatever. So anyway, so that whole thing transacts. He goes around to this little church of one hundred and eighty people that I was a part of and brags to everybody how he got a car for thirty eight hundred off the youth pastor that was worth fifty five hundred people. And I was so upset that all he was doing was bragging on how good of a negotiator he was, and nothing to do with his negotiating skills. And then a month later the engine went bad. Oh no, the engine that my father might put in, Oh it was good for seven years. Oh no, the entire engine went bad. Secretly I was happy. Yeah, oh, you're a bad person, I know, but I was so upset. So you've been all over the world in markets where you have to haggle, right, So it's really a weird thing in the West to have to argue about a price, unless you're like at a yard sale or something like that. Yes, yes, but I love going into the markets overseas somewhere, especially in the Middle East, because you're. Going to war. Yes, they're planning on it, you're planning for most of it. They sound angry, Like my wife. I took it to Morocco with me one time, Mary Cash, and she just was so intimidated in those markets, and I kept trying to tell her. I so just understand, they're not mad at you. They just sound mad at you. It's they're doing it because it's fun for them. It's not fun to you. It's fun to them, and they're trying to get as much out of it as possible. But I said, you never have to worry. They will never lose money. They will let you walk out the door before they. Lose a dime. Right, So if they're willing to finally close the deal, they're going to tell you how horrible you are that you're stealing money from their children. It doesn't matter if they sell it to you. They're making a. Product, which is good for a thinker, so you and I. Love it, but for my wife, who's so emotional, it was pretty brutal. So we go in and I go into this one market one time, and this guy was just going after me. And I knew what the general prices were for things. I mean, I've done a lot of these kinds of things, and I wanted to bring home a couple of alabaster candle holders. They're beautiful. You put a candle in there and they glow. This beautiful alabaster car got a bunch of so and this store that I like to go to, it's in conne Khally, it's a in Cairo. It's a fifteen hundred year old market and the family, the same family has owned that shop for over three hundred years. He's he's the sixth grandson or seventh grandson that's owned this company, and they also owned the mine where they mine the alabaster, and then he was the carving company good him. So it's really fantastic. So I know this guy, I've bought a lot of things from him, and I come in and for a second he forgot who I was, so he just jack's the price way up and I was like, hey, I've bought things here before, and you can kind of see this. His eyes are starting to like maybe he recognized me, couldn't, So he lowers a little bit. So then I just start hammering him on price to get down to where I want to go. And then you know you always offer to buy two or three once you get the price as low as you think you can get it there, then you offered to buy two or three more. Because I'd already planned buy him more anyways, So I start stacking it on, I stick it, and finally he starts pretending like he's mad, and he's like, you are stealing you understand, If I sell it to you at that price, you are stealing from me, and you're taking food off my child's table. And I said, no, I'm trying to offer to pay for your child's bread tomorrow. That's all I'm trying to do. But hey, if you don't want to sell it to me, then that's fine. I'll go to your neighbor right next door. They sell the same thing. So I start walking. I goes, no, no, no, I'll sell it to you. And so I said okay, and I felt like I'd got him. Basically, where I wanted to go. So then I go to pay for it, and then he goes, we hey, let me ask you. Would you be interested in these things too? And I said, well, we'd have to negotiate. He says, no, no, no, you're a fair man. I said, what you said. You just told me I was taking food off the table. He said, I'm just playing with you, a right, So then we wrap it all up. I buy this stuff, and then after that, every time I walk into his story, I've been in this store now probably six times. He recognizes me. Now he says, here's a shrewd negotiator, right, but then he always jacks the price way up, right because he's going to come back down. But I've heard him multiple times and he would talk about you know, I was like this guy, I always make good money off of him, is what he says to me. Now, whereas that day he's like, you're stealing money from my tu So that's what Solomon's talking about here. It's that kind of idea. It feels good to haggle. It feels good when you're on the winning side of a debate like that. That's so great, Ye, that's great. So really, I think The principle there for us in the West, quite honestly, is when it comes working for a fair price for you, learning that win win solution, and then having a comfortability to walk away. Yeah. Right, So I don't. Want you to lose money, but I don't want to lose money either. So if you're willing to let me walk away and my price, I can't get the price where I want it. That's okay. And there is some danger for young people walking on the car lot or buying a new home or something like that where we overpay trying to be nice. And what we're trying to do is find a win win solution where he makes a profit and I'm able to walk away and well, I got a great deal, that's what you want. Well, there's so much more in here that again, just if you want a homework assignment, go back through. Yeah, I mean we didn't even touch you know, don't say I'll get even for this wrong. Wait for the Lord to handle the matter. It's about revenge and God getting the vengeance right. There's again, there's just so much in there about honesty. You know, Hey, don't trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost. That's a sermon altogether, that is a whole sermon. We didn't even touch the king's theory, which is this the second time he talks about that, Yes, right in here, or it's like a lion, or the danger of alcohol. He just says, it's just everything about life. Yeah, that's right, that's right. So hey, that is our time. We're at twenty five minutes, so hopefully we will see you tomorrow on the Bible. Guys,