Vegetarian or Love-etarian? Proverbs 15:17

Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro Inc.

Vegetarian or Love-etarian? Proverbs 15:17

Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred. Proverbs 15:17

Some might think that this particular proverb is reason to preach vegetarianism - but the point of this proverb is not the content of your meals as much as it is the spirit in which you partake of them. The dish of vegetables is actually seen as far less sumptuous fare than the fattened ox. The difference here is what is going on while you are sharing your meal with others. The vegetables, though not nearly as fancy as the fattened ox, are better because they are seasoned with love. As a pastor I've had the joy of sharing meals with families. Some of the most precious meals I've enjoyed in my 30 years as a pastor have been shared with some of the poorest of people. The meals, though simple, were liberally seasoned with love and precious fellowship. It was such a blessing to sit at such a table.

The proverb compares the simple fare of a dish of vegetables with the food of a rich man's feast. To have a fattened ox was about as special as it got in Israel. If you remember, the father of the prodigal son ordered that the fattened calf be served when his son came home. It was a time of glorious celebration - and only the best was to be served. But what this proverb tells us is that the fattened ox served by the rich man was seasoned with hatred. Though a wonderful culinary delight was served - it was served by someone who hated their guests. This is a strange kind of hospitality indeed. They have guests - but only to get what they can from them. They invite their guests to their high-class affairs to put them in their debt - so that at a later date they can collect what they are owed. The worst of these parties are the ones that are done for people they absolutely despise - but they do it anyway because then everyone there will owe them favors. This is a meal destined for relational indigestion. The food may taste good - but will only sour in their stomach as the problem of having to deal with their host comes to the surface. There is no love - only hatred and a desire to be owed or owned.

Consider the practice of bringing food to a client from whom you desire sales. The saleesman may not even like the person - but feeds them to gain their business. Consider the political fund raising event where the purpose of it is not to enjoy good fellowship. The purpose is to separate those attending from their money at the end of the evening. Consider all these events - and many more where tasty and sumptuous food is served - but the core reason you are invited has nothing to do with true fellowship or heartfelt love.

So our writer warns us that in situations where you are offered the finest of culinary delights - you need to check your own heart - and seek to discern the heart of those who feed you. it is better to be served vegetables than for expensive food to be placed before you with hidden motives. This is not for reasons of frugality, nor it is meant to be a call to vegetarianism. Actually, it is a warning against false hospitality and the expectations that often come with it. It is a warning to partake of true fellowship - even if it is over celery and water. It is a call for all of us to be active "love-etarians." Even though "love-etarian" is not a real word, I think we can all understand what is being said to us. That lesson is this: In the end, fellowship with love will always trump hatred and fine dining. One may fill your stomach - but the other fills your soul.

A Tested Word Only a Fool Would Add to - Proverbs 30:5-6

June 30, 2021 • John F. Lawrence

Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. 6 Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6 It should not suprise us that in the midst of the wisdom of the ages we find a statement as to the trustworthiness of the Word of God. That is wisdom indeed - that we can trust God's Word because it is tested. We learn that it is a shield for those who need refuge. It is a word we are not to add to or subtract from. And it is a Word that God will protect to the point of proving that all who add to it are liars. A TESTED Word - The first thing we are told is that every Word of God is tested. There is an interesting start. Every means the whole of something - all of it. Each and every word that makes up God's revelation of Himself is tested. Those who mock the thought that we can trust every word in God's word need to realize that such a statement is not just made by theologians - but by God's Word itself. The idea of these words being tested refers to the smelting process of silver or gold. The smelting is done by exposing these metals to heat - intense heat - and thus bringing out all the impurities in them. What is left over is pure gold or silver. God's Word has been thoroughly tested and purified so that what we have is reliable - it is the smelted pure gold - and we can trust its purity. A SHIELD - This word serves as a shield to those who take refuge in God. Here we see that God's Word is equated with God Himself. Of course this should not shock us because what a person says ought to be true of the person. What a good reminder though that God is good for every word He speaks. A wise man would note this and look to God's Word for the ultimate promises in his or her life. ADDING TO GOD'S WORD - Don't add to God's Word is the warning given here. Yet there are myriad people and groups who have tried. Before turning the cults, first we need to see that individually we can add to God's Word. If we do not know it well, we can take our own personal desires and impose them upon the Lord. We can also go for years thinking that God has said something - and only be mistaken because of personal ignorance of the Word. Regardless of the reason - any personal addition to God's Word is strictly forbidden. There are also groups who add to God's Word. The Mormons have done so by adding the Book of Mormon to it. The Jehovah's Witness group has mistranslated it, and in so doing have built an entire doctrine around denying the deity of Jesus Christ. Numerous other groups have proven foolish doing these same things only to be proven false when we examine the truth. The destruction that faces those who do such things and who adhere to such things is beyond our comprehension, for many will only become aware of their error in the judgment. PROVEN A LIAR - Those who decide to add to God's Word will have the unfortunate position of being proven liars. God promises personally to reprove those who do this. The Word used here for reprove has a legal sense to it - that the person will find a case against them - one with a judgment as well. There is also a sense in which this is a personal reproof - a rebuke. The judgment that will be rendered to those who add to God's Word is that of being a liar - a proven liar. We consider such words strong indeed. Yet God does not take lightly those who add to His Word their own thoughts and ideas. It is important to have something upon which to found our lives. There needs to be some kind of bedrock document - some truth upon which our lives can be built. The philosophies of our day disdain such truth - or at least disdain that there is a universal truth upon which all men can base their lives. Instead they hold to an individual truth which all men can hold simultaneously in their hearts - even if their truths radically contradict one another. Yet, in spite of all the volumes written and all the speeches given - their truths still stand as the lies of rebellious men who think they know better than God. God's truth has stood throughout time as THE TRUTH. It has stood, will stand, and will be the very basis upon which the ultimate judgment shall be rendered. When looked at in that light we can see the wisdom in holding fast to God's words as they have been given to us. To do otherwise would simply to be to add our name to the list of liars who will be proven wrong throughout history and who, if not in the immediate - in the ultimate - will be shown to be those who misrepresent the truth.

The Sudden Problems of a Stiff Neck - Proverbs 29:1

June 29, 2021 • John F. Lawrence

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. Proverbs 29:1 Stiff-necked . . . now there is a term you don't hear too much any longer. Yet, it would be wise for us to avoid being stiff-necked - especially when it comes to how we receive correction and reproof from others - and from God. The "hardened-neck" is the one that is stiff, and it also has the idea of being severe or fierce. Thus the hardening is very decided. When a man hardens his neck - he is doing so with quite the attitude. Zhodiates brings out that this means someone who is harsh with anger - cruel - stiff-necked. This is a difficult person - stubborn and hardened and filled with resentment toward the one offering the reproof. The reproof is not just criticism. It is also not just a one time statement. The proverb says "after much reproof." There are those who are offering the needed rebuke and correction., but not in the form of a lengthy lecture. This is reproof given because of multiple offenses. The one needing the reproof is repeating the same mistake again and again. But - from the previous word - it is clear that the one receiving it is not interested in hearing it. Suddenly, speaks of something that happens all at once - there is an aspect to this that is shocking. The promise of the proverb is not for a slow decline - but for a sudden moment of retribution from the Lord. The one who receives this "sudden" consequences is broken. Broken is "shabar" means to break in pieces - and also has the idea of being abolished, crushed, demolished, destroyed, smashed, shattered, or torn down. This is a devastating breaking from God. What is worse is this breaking is described as bein beyond remedy - literally "no healing or cure" - This is something that is not recoverable. When I consider this, it makes me fear pride and arrogance. It also makes me want to turn from areas where I am receiving much instruction - and much rebuke - and turn to the Lord with a humility and brokenness that is self-imposed. Actually, it makes me want to turn in any area where I'm receiving correction - why wait until it becomes "much" reproof - respond now. Oh to have the brokenness that comes from the Lord as a gift - the broken and contrite heart that He gives as a loving gift to His children - rather than the brokenness that comes as a horrific retribution when we resist Him and those who are sent of Him to correct and train us in righteousness. Learn to receive correction and reproof as good friends - friends who only want us to avoid the breaking that comes with arrogance and self-centered thinking that rejects comments not meant to hurt - but meant to protect us from a stiff neck and its consequences.

Delivered . . . From Yourself? - Proverbs 28:26

June 28, 2021 • John F. Lawrence

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered. Proverbs 28:26 "Just trust your heart," is a phrase that we hear often in our world. Yet this counsel runs absolutely counter to what God tells us in Proverbs - and honestly - everywhere else in Scripture. How could there be such a wide discrepancy between the common wisdom of the world and that which God gives us in the Word? To trust in your own heart is to be confident in it. The word means to feel safe and secure - to feel that you can rely on it in every situation. God calls the man or woman who lives this way a fool. But there is a reason God says this - a good reason. The world in all its philosophies usually does not want to take into account the fall of man into sin and rebellion against God. They say that those stories of a garden and a tree of good and evil are just that - stories. So they write off the rebellion of man - and choose instead to trust their own rebellious hearts. But the one who does not take into account the fall of man is a fool. He does not realize the corruption of his own heart. It is like trusting a watch that has been set incorrectly. No matter how accurate you think it is - it is fundamentally flawed. So is the man who trusts himself and does not see his sin. The one who walks wisely is promised deliverance. We've seen these words before in Proverbs. Walk speaks of our lifestyle - the way we walk about the world. The walk of this man is according to wisdom - which is "chokmah" and means a wisdom - but one used with skill - meaning a practical wisdom that is lived out in a myriad of decisions every day. The one who walks this way will be delivered. Delivered? From what are we to be delivered? What are we escaping? When we walk wisely according to God's ways - we will be delivered from our sinful ways and tendencies. We are delivered . . . from ourselves and from a fallen world that walks contrary to God's wisdom. Believe it or not, that is the primary trap set for us every day - to turn to ourselves rather than to turn to God. Only the wisdom of God's Word will deliver us from such a fate. It seems absolutely natural and right to live like this. The truth is that was the reason for the Fall in the garden - and the fall of everyone who trusts themselves rather than God since. When we choose these normal patterns of the flesh - trusting ourselves rather than living in a conscious dependence upon God we are choosing danger and foolishness. That is a fate which we all need to be delivered from every day.