I Once Stepped on a Teacher

Have you ever stepped on a teacher?

I’ll admit, that is one of the strangest questions I’ve ever asked. I don’t know what kind of image that question brings to your mind, so let me clarify.

I am not thinking about stepping on your teacher’s shoes. Rather, have you ever stepped on an ant?

Again, a strange question, but it was Solomon who gave me the idea:

Go to the ant, O sluggard,

Observe her ways and be wise.

—Proverbs 6:6

In this simple proverb Solomon told the lazy person to observe the ways of the ant and find wisdom.

Some of Solomon’s wisdom came from pure observation.

   He stopped long enough;

      He waited long enough;

         He watched long enough;

            And he learned something.

Solomon learned many practical life lessons by observing nature around him. He even learned from the lowly ant.

Now, let’s not misunderstand. Solomon was not a pantheist, a person who believes that God is in nature and all nature IS God. Rather, we know that God is our Creator. When He created the universe, He set principles in place; we call them the laws of nature. We are able to observe patterns in nature because God set things in motion according to specific, observable patterns.

By observing the laws of nature and the patterns in nature, we can learn practical lessons.

Now, back to the ants. You can read Solomon’s observation, that is, what he learned by taking the time to watch and observe the ants. It is true and does not need your validation. Yet, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to also take the time to watch and observe the ants.

Plants and animals are used in many biblical illustrations. We can learn things by observing nature around us. Yet, there is one teaching that stands out in my mind. It is found in a familiar statement that Jesus made:

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

—Matthew 6:26

Jesus didn’t say, “I looked at that birds and noticed this….” He said to us, “Look.” I think He actually wanted us to get up and go outside and look at the birds. It is not that bird-watching makes you righteous. And yet, He did say, “Look….”

Perhaps the simple exercise of looking would teach us more than imagining or remembering.

Now, no one should think that God’s revealed word, the Bible, can be replaced by observing nature. Yet, it would appear that even God recognized that a lazy person could learn something from a lowly ant; that we all could learn something from birds.

Perhaps we should get out more.
Perhaps we should...

   stop more, 

      observe more, 

         ponder more.

Perhaps we would grow in wisdom.

I am certain that we would stand in awe of our Creator!


Mark Stinnett

April 17, 2022

“I Understand . . . But . . .”

Have you ever had anything stolen from you?
Do you remember how you felt?

Imagine this: Two thieves are caught, their circumstances described...
In desperate circumstances a man breaks into your car and steals some electronics. He then sells them at a pawn shop so that he can have some money to buy food for his starving wife and two small children.

A second thief breaks into your home and steals your laptop, TV system and jewelry. He later pawns his heist for quick cash. When he is caught it is discovered that he had been on a crime spree for quite some time. He's just a thief; no family; in it for the money.

One steals for need;
The other for greed.

If you are like most people, you have some degree of understanding, perhaps even sympathy toward the man who stole out of need. Solomon wrote:

   Men do not despise a thief if he steals 
      To satisfy himself when he is hungry;
   But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; 
      He must give all the substance of his house.
   --Proverbs 6:30-31

It is important to understand that right and wrong do not change with circumstances. While we might be more understanding in one situation than another. Right is still right, and wrong is still wrong...ALWAYS.

Be wise. Do right.

The Seventh

   There are six things which the LORD hates, 
   Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him....
   --Proverbs 6:16

This verse introduces a list of seven things that the Lord hates. We should perk up and give attention to this list. If God ‘hates’ a specific action, we should avoid it at all cost. If God ‘hates’ a specific kind of person, we should do everything within our power to keep from becoming that kind of person.

Abomination...
'Abomination' is stronger than 'hate.'
Question: Is the use of the word hate followed by abomination simply a poetic device or is there something more?

If the ‘number’ had not changed, that would be an easy explanation. But the number did change, from six to seven: Six things hated, seven an abomination.

   There are six things which the LORD hates, 
   Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
      Haughty eyes,
      A lying tongue,
      And hands that shed innocent blood,
      A heart that devises wicked plans,
      Feet that run rapidly to evil,
      A false witness who utters lies,
      And one who spreads strife among brothers.
                                                               --Proverbs 6:16-19


Recent Hebrew scholarship suggests that the change in number, from six to seven, along with the more intense wording (abomination) in the second half of verse sixteen is a way of emphasizing the last item in the list. Accepting this idea, the overall sense of the verse would be:

   There are six things which the Lord hates, 
   but a seventh is an abomination to Him.

So, the seventh item in the list stands out as something that is hated by God above all the other things that He hates. We might say that it is at the top of His list of 'Things Hated.'

Read the entire list.
Think about the things that God hates.
Look carefully at the seventh!

Of all the things that God hates; among pride, lying, murder, and an evil heart; more than anything else, a person “who spreads strife among brothers” is an abomination to God.

Do your actions and your speech promote peace and unity among your fellow Christians, or are you promoting something else?

Rethink 'Wink'

It was springtime during my sixth grade year. After considerable thought and planning I did it. I winked at the cute little dark-haired girl in my class!

Years later I learned that it was called non-verbal communication. I had no idea that I was capable of such sophistication! The ‘wink’ in sixth grade meant, “I like you.” The thing that was so confusing later on was that I had been winked at by adults and “I like you” just didn’t always make sense. So, using my kid-powered deductive reasoning skills I decided that winking was some kind of code, but I had no idea what it meant.

As a teen, I saw the wink again. An uncle of mine was playing a harmless prank on one of my younger cousins. That time I understood the wink, “Don’t say anything; play along.”

We all had a big laugh afterward.

I finally understood: The wink communicates when the mouth is closed. The wink can also communicate when the mouth speaks. Solomon observed that the wink may tell the truth while the mouth tells a lie.

A worthless person, a wicked man, 
    Is the one who walks with a false mouth,
Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, 
    Who points with his fingers;
Who with perversity in his heart devises evil continually, 
    Who spreads strife.
                                                --Proverbs 6:12-14

A person says one thing with his mouth, but he communicates a different message by non-verbal signals; a wink, shuffling of the feet, pointing the fingers. God has an opinion about that individual:

     Worthless.

     Wicked.

     Liar.

Solomon did not condemn non-verbal communication. The "I like you" wink is innocent. A head-nod, motion of the hand, and the “stink eye” are often effective means of communication used by parents and teachers. Solomon warned against using deceptive signals to cover a lie. He described a subtle and evil manipulation that ultimately causes strife. Don’t think this is just for kids. God hates the “one who spread strife among his brothers.” (v. 19)

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus instructed his followers to say, “Yes,” if they mean “Yes,” and to say, “No,” if they mean “No” (Matthew 5:37). In other words, speak the truth or say nothing at all; no verbal manipulation; no deceit; no lying; and no subtle silent signals.

Tell the truth.
(No Wink.)