Posted on 03/20/2022 9:15:24 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want” (Proverbs 21:4-5).
“An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Here are the kind of people that bring the wrong kind of sacrifices mentioned in the previous verse. What was Cain’s problem? He just wouldn’t bring the right sacrifice, would he? It wasn’t a matter of sacrifice here, he certainly brought more to the altar than Able did. Cain had brought all the fruit of the labor of his hands, he certainly worked hard to produce them. Able hadn’t done a thing other than raise the sheep—that was God’s work. Able brought the lazy man’s sacrifice. Cain worked hard on that crop, but God wasn’t interested in the works of a man’s hands but the content of a man’s heart.
“An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Just plain, everyday common work is sin: “And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it” (Exodus 20:25). This is why there is absolutely nothing that you or I can do in the flesh to please God, because we are doing it with the flesh. It is touched by corrupt hands. Michelangelo himself could not build an altar that would be pleasing to God.
“An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” This is hard on men, because they are all so proud of their works. That’s the difference between how man looks at it, and God looks at it. It is just as 21:2 says, “Every work of man is right in his own eyes,” it is the product of pride.
“An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Solomon deals with that subject of the proud heart in chapter 6. It was one of the seven abominations to God. It is abominable to God because it justifies and exalts man and denies the exaltation of God. God hates that.
“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness,” someone that is not lazy. The diligent man is considering ways to make a profit and make a living and increasing his goods. Hard work is rewarded with a house full of provision. It’s a general truth that can also be applied to the spiritual side of life. A man that is diligent in spiritual things is going to reap spiritual blessings. He will be plentiful in soul-winning, plentiful in joy, and in reaping the things of the spirit.
Set your affections on things above, think on the things—things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report. As Paul wrote: “If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Be diligent about it, and there will be plenty of rewards for you.
Notice it is the “thoughts” of the diligent. Here is a man that thinks the situation through before he acts. He is not hasty in action. Not so of others . . .
“. . . but of every one that is hasty only to want,” one of the condemnations of youth is that young people rarely think before they act, they are impulse buyers of anything that glitters. After the hard lessons of about 30-40 years of reaping their actions before they think, they usually figure out that it is better to think before they act. They get bit a lot less often that way. With experience, most people at least learn that hasty decisions are going to turn out bad and the older a man gets the harder it is to get motivated to do anything.
“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness,” people that are willing to wait on God and wait on the opportunities that He brings their way to invest are blessed. They are diligent about being ready, but they are not hasty about the thing. In other words, this takes some patience, and patience is a very important attribute for a Christian. In fact, Peter calls it a “virtue.” Sometimes it comes the hard way, the Bible says that “tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3).
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1:2-3). Trials, troubles, and tribulation give us patience and will teach us not to be hasty, and to look before we leap. It will keep us out of a lot of trouble down the road.
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