Proverbs 6. Welcome to today's Daily PBJ devotional. If you're reading the Old Testament with us this year, read Exodus 30, Proverbs 6, and Psalm 78. This devotional is about Proverbs 6, 6-11, but I'll read the whole chapter of Proverbs at this time. My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger, if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor's hands. Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor. Allow no sleep to your eyes, or slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, Like a bird from the snare of the fowler. Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker, Observe its ways, and become wise, Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler. It prepares its provisions in summer. It gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. And poverty will come upon you like a robber. and need like a bandit. A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth, winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers. With deceit in his heart he devises evil. He continually sows discord. Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly. Like in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him. haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers. My son, keep your father's commandment and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Bind them always upon your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you. When you lie down, they will watch over you. When you awake, they will speak to you. For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, or let her captivate you with her eyes. For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man, Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? So is he who sleeps with another man's wife. No one who touches her will go unpunished. Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger. Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold. He must give up all the wealth of his house. He who commits adultery lacks judgment. Whoever does so destroys himself. Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away. For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance. He will not be appeased by any ransom or persuaded by lavish gifts. This is God's word. And again, I want to repeat and This is God's Word. I want to re-read the section for this devotional, which is Proverbs 6, 6-11. Walk in the manner of the ant. Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker, Observe its ways, and become wise. Without a commander, Without an overseer or ruler, It prepares its provisions in summer, It gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit. Ants are disgusting creatures who have no business being in my house. That said, they are remarkable workers. There are some time-lapse That said, they are remarkable workers. There are some time-lapse videos on the internet that show how hard they work to break down large food items for their colony. Some of the items, like a grapefruit, are huge compared to the size of the ant, of just one ant. Working together diligently, however, they can pick the whole thing apart in a few hours. Here in Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard, or the slacker, as the Berean study Bible. Here in Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard, as many translations translate it, or the slacker, as the Berean standard Bible that I just read says. Here in Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard, or that's how, here in Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard, as many translations translate it, or the slacker, as the Berean Standard Bible, as the Berean Standard Bible, which I just read translates it, but Proverbs encourages this sluggard, this slacker, to think about the hard work of ants. A slacker or a sluggard is a foolish. All right, back up again and try this further. Working together diligently, however, they can pick the whole thing apart in a few hours. Here in Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard or the slacker, as the translation I just read uses it, or the slackard as, or the slacker as the translation I just read, the Berean Standard Bible translates it. But Solomon encourages this person to think about the hard work of ants. A slacker or sluggard is foolish because he is lazy. And note to self there, it says he is lazy, so it needs to be changed to he is lazy. Backing up again. Working together diligently, however, they can pick the whole thing apart in a few hours. Here in Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard, as most translates are... This is gonna be annoying. It's already eight minutes long. Working together diligently, however, they can pick the whole thing apart in a few hours. Here in Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard as most translators. Working together diligently, however, they can pick the whole thing apart in a few hours. Here in Proverbs 6, 6-11, Solomon encouraged the sluggard, as most translations put it, or the slacker, as the one I just read puts it. But Solomon encourages this lazy person to think about the hard work of ants. A sluggard or slacker is foolish because he is lazy. The first thing Solomon encouraged the sluggard to notice about ants is that they don't need a boss. Verse 7 says that it, quote, has no commander, no overseer, or ruler. Those are the NIV's translation words. This sounds like a dream life to many people, a life with no boss, no authority. If a lazy person had no one in authority over him, he would do nothing productive all day, day after day, as we see in verses 9 and 10. The ant, however, stores up provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Those are the NIV's words of verses 9 and 10, I think. Those are the words of verse 8. The ant, however, stores up its provisions in summer. The ant, however, stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest according to verse 8 of our translation and that's in the NIV. Each one, each ant works hard to provide for the colony even without a supervisor. The point here is that the sluggard needs to learn how to be productive without external supervision or discipline. Many people will do nothing unless they are told to do it, but a wise man will learn to work diligently without supervision to be profitable and prepared for the future. The foolish, lazy man, by contrast, is warned that poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Those are the words of verse 10, I think. Those are the words of verse 11. The foolish, lazy man, by contrast, is warned that poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Those are the words of verse 11 in the NIV. The foolish, lazy man, by contrast, is warned that poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Those are the words of verse 11 in the NIV. Many people are hardworking in many areas of life or lazy in most areas of life. Many of us, however, work hard in some areas while neglecting to work hard in other areas. In other words, we might be productive employees, even without much supervision, but we're lazy about managing the money that we make. Or perhaps we're diligent about physical fitness without any supervisor, but not about our spiritual lives. What area in your life should you apply wisdom to be more ant-like, to work hard and diligently without any kind of supervision? We would also be wise to teach our kids to be self-starters and diligent without supervision. These are essential skills for success in our world, and they're very rare. Encourage your kids to work on that term paper for a little, Encourage your kids to work on that term paper for a little while every night, instead of trying to do it all in one weekend, or worse, one caffeine-fueled all-nighter. It will serve them well all the days of their lives. If you found this devotional helpful, please sign up to receive it every day in your email. Go to dailypbj.com to subscribe. Go to dailypbj.com slash subscribe to subscribe for free. And you can always unsubscribe. There's an unsubscribe link in every one of them, so there's no risk. I'm looking for financial support to help me on a monthly basis. Please go to dailypbj.com slash support if you'd like to help. Please share this with someone who might be helped in their Christian life by it. And I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.