In the sermon 'Acquiring & Stewarding Wealth' by Peter Allison, the speaker discusses key biblical principles from Proverbs 22-24 about how to acquire and manage wealth responsibly. The sermon emphasizes not robbing the poor or oppressing the afflicted, noting that God's justice will prevail. It cautions against forming bonds with angry individuals, warns against taking on debts without means to repay, and stresses the importance of respecting ancient landmarks as symbols of property and boundaries. The sermon also highlights the importance of developing skills and wisdom, noting that true success comes from excelling in one's work. The speaker advises caution when accepting government gifts, as they often come with hidden strings attached, and urges listeners not to overwork for riches, as wealth can be fleeting. Instead, the focus should be on seeking God's kingdom and righteousness, trusting that material needs will be met. The importance of discernment and sincere intentions when accepting gifts from others is also discussed, urging reliance on divine wisdom for guidance.

Our scripture reading is Proverbs 22. I'll begin reading at verse 22. At verse 22. Do not rob the poor because he is poor, nor oppress the afflicted at the gate. For the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you? Do not move the ancient landmark which your fathers have set. Do you see a man who excels in his work?

He will stand before kings, he will not stand before unknown men. When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. Do not overwork to be rich, because of your own understanding. Cease!

Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away like an eagle toward heaven. Do not eat the bread of a miser, nor desire his delicacies. For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

That morsel you have eaten you will vomit up and waste your pleasant words. Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. Do not remove the ancient landmark, nor enter the fields of the fatherless, for their Redeemer is mighty, and He will plead their cause against you." May we rejoice that this is word as one who finds great treasure. Heavenly Father, your word indeed is more precious than gold and silver. We ask that we may prize it as more precious than gold or silver.

We ask that you would teach us from it. Bless us through it. Sanctify us this morning. As We commit our heart to listen to you. May you open it, that we might be instructed.

May you sanctify these lips and this vessel of clay to proclaim what is true and holy in Jesus name amen Well, this section begins this part three in the book of Proverbs. Remember, Part one is an extended prologue covering the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs, telling us the purpose of the book, preparing, if you will, our heart, setting the stage, laying the foundation for the instruction that is to follow. And then the second main part that we recently completed was chapters 10 through 22 in verse 16, which consists of a number of discrete Proverbs. Number of discrete proverbs. Now we come to part three, and there's a return in many ways to the type of appeal that was given in the first nine chapters.

So in those nine chapters the word my son is used many many many times, like 20 or 30 times. In the next chapters 10 through 22, it's only used a few times. But now we see in this section again a return to this appeal to my Son. Many commentators see this section, part three here, which goes from chapter 22 verse 17 through chapter 24 as verse 22, and some see an additional part at the end of the chapter there, but many commentators see this section divided into three parts, and I believe that is a right division of this text. So we had an introduction that we looked at last week, introduction to this part three.

But then I think we have in verses 22 through 27 I think we have we have three we very clearly have three Proverbs there The first one is verse 22 and 23 dealing with how to properly acquire and stewardship wealth. And I think that these three Proverbs really are three headers that speak about each of these three sections. So verses 22 and 23 is a proverb dealing with this first section, which I think begins in verse 28 and goes through chapter 23 verse 11. And so that's one section and the proverb in verse 22 and 23 addresses that. And then the next proverb in verse 24 and 25, make no friendship with an angry man, I think deals with wisdom and relationships.

And that's a section that runs from chapter 23 verse 12 through chapter 24 verse 2. And so that make no friendship with an angry man is sort of a summary header proverb covering that section. And then verses 26 and 27 are a section as well dealing with wisdom in building one's house, generational wisdom in building your house. And so the proverb in 26 and 27 I believe is a header for the third section which begins in chapter 24 verse 3 and goes to the end of this part, verse 34. Now that sounds very complicated but it's not meant to be.

We'd like this morning to look at this first section, this first part dealing with dealing with wisely acquiring and wisely stewarding a wealth. Wealth is something the Bible speaks a lot of. It speaks a lot of. So this section gives us a number of important principles in how to acquire and steward wealth. The first principle is in verse 28, Do not remove the ancient landmark which your fathers have set.

This section is ended by the exact same proverb in verse 10 and 11 of 24. Do not remove the ancient landmark, nor enter the fields of the fatherless, for their Redeemer is mighty, and He will plead their cause against you." These two proverbs, I think, bracket of this section. Do not remove the ancient landmark. But I meant to talk a little bit more about verse 22 and 23, So let me go back there just a minute before we get to that. Do not rob the poor because he is a poor, nor oppress the afflicted at the gate.

For the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them. So just because we can do something, or just because we can get by doing something without any adverse consequences doesn't make it right. Don't rob the poor because he is poor. In other words, because you can get away with it, Solomon is saying that doesn't make it right. We can rob the poor by denying them justice in the courts.

That's what this reference to afflicted at the gate is, to reference to courts and to the legal system. The legal system is where we find justice. And we can rob the poor by denying them justice in the courts. They're not able to defend themselves like somebody that is wealthy can and so it becomes easy to deprive them of justice. And this is a warning that we not do that.

Don't do to the poor What you wouldn't attempt to do with someone who is rich or powerful Don't enter into contracts that take advantage of people because of their because they are poor And Cannot and and don't have the advantage or don't have the ability to be on an equal footing just because We might have the ability to do something doesn't make it right and God takes a special care of Of these poor of an orphan's Exodus 22 says it says something very similar to what Solomon says here. Don't, The Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them in Exodus 22 right after which is right after the ten commandments were given this is a this is more of a expounding of Of the law that was summarized in the Ten Commandments. It says in verse 21, You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child if you afflict them in any way, in any way, not just in an economic way, but in any other way, in a relational way, in mistreating them.

If you afflict them in any way and they cry out at all to me, there is a need for those who have been oppressed to cry out to the Lord. He is the one who can deliver, He is the one who can save. If you afflict them in any way and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath will be hot, God says, and I will kill you with the sword. And your wives will be widows and your children fatherless. If you lend money to any of my people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a money lender to him.

You shall not charge him interest. This is, these are principles on how we can rob the poor because he is poor. He has a need of something, a need for a basic necessity like food or clothes or shelter. We are not to oppress them. And that means, right, in that same context, not to be like a moneylender, not to be like a banker, and loan money at interest to somebody that has a need.

Now that seems hard to understand. Why should we not loan money at interest to those who are poor and have a need? Are we saying that they should be able to get a mortgage for no interest? No. The idea of a loan, and I think the thing we need to understand that makes sense out of these Old Testament commandments is to remember that debt is seen as a catastrophe.

Debt is seen as a catastrophe. Debt is seen as something that should not be a normal part of someone's life. If there's debt, there's a problem. You had a trouble. You had what we call a disaster has happened.

And that's the perspective. We need to remember that mindset when we when we come to this to the Old Testament remember The debtor is a servant of the lender the debtor is a servant the Bible says so if you have a debt you're a servant And while it's not wrong to be a servant, it's not a desirable place to be. It's not somewhere that we would normally want to be. We wouldn't normally want to put ourselves in bondage, in a disservitude. The Bible says that if you can be free, you know, we don't have to be free.

We can be in Christ and we are free in Christ even as slaves. But it says if you have the opportunity to be free, we can take it. It's good to take it. It's better not to be in a shortage. And so to rob the poor because he is poor would include, or would mean, charging the poor interest on loans.

If they have a need, a catastrophe that causes them to have a need, then that money should be loaned to them without interest as brothers in Christ. Now that's not saying that we need to finance exorbitant standards of living so that the poor can live above their means. That's another thing debt enables people to do is to live above their means. Know that it's saying we should be content with what we can afford to live in. And the reason I think houses are so expensive in our culture today is twofold.

There's two pieces to this. Sometimes we can focus on one to the exclusion of the other. And I think in order to have a right understanding, we need to see both pieces. Why are houses so expensive? Why is it so difficult for somebody to have a house?

And I think the answer is partly because of the greed in our hearts to have bigger places than we can afford to live in but that is only made possible by something called the Federal Reserve if it if they didn't exist and the the theft that they that is inherent in that system, if that didn't exist, it wouldn't be possible for our greed to be lived out in the same way that it is. So in other words, there's an enabling coming there. Nobody requires us to take the Debt money that the Federal Reserve issues, but the greed in our heart leads us to take it. It's easy It's right there. It's sitting there every day Beckoning take it look at what you can live in if you're willing to take this debt and and the greedy heart of man We take it So both both pieces have to be kept in mind And you see that that ability that money that's there that Increases the when you increase the money supply you increase prices that's the effect of inflation.

The effect of inflation is increased prices and so with all this money being given to us and put into our economy the effect of that inflation is that prices go up especially in houses. And so in a sense we see then today people that are poor being oppressed because the price of a house is out of their reach. Do not rob the poor because he is poor, nor oppress the afflicted. For the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them." This is also, I think, speaking to the concept of unjust enrichment. Unjust enrichment is a common law legal notion that can happen in a myriad of different ways, but it's basically the idea that You can come into money that isn't yours.

And the principle here is if you didn't work for it and it wasn't given to you, it's not yours. If you didn't work for it and it wasn't given to you, then it's not yours, even if you somehow came to possess it. And there are many ways that that can happen. People can come into possession of things that they didn't work for and that weren't given to them. And where that happens, That's called unjust enrichment.

Job speaks about getting a house that you didn't pay for and And that's very possible to do today the Federal Reserve has created a system where it's possible to get things that you didn't pay for that they didn't pay for and weren't given to them. And so that's unjust enrichment. See these little things that we have grown accustomed to living with, we may not think twice about them, but when we look at God's Word, we see they're condemned. And we have to say, Is the Lord chastening us because we are oppressing and robbing the poor because they are poor? We have to ask that.

And we have to answer it in accordance with what the Word of God teaches, not our own sense of what is right and what is wrong because our own sense of right and wrong, our conscience can become dulled, it can become hardened through our practice and what we've accustomed ourselves to accepting Because we see it all around us You're not robbed the poor because he is poor Nor press the afflicted in the gate the Lord Jehovah will plead their cause Okay neck now we're ready to look at this next section, next principle in acquiring our wealth and stewarding our wealth. And that is to not remove the ancient landmark, which your fathers have set. This is talking about the landmarks by which property is defined. We don't think a lot about this. I didn't think a lot about this because we think well that's doll in the courthouse and how can you steal property?

By moving landmarks well believe it or not It's actually happens more than you realize it happens certainly happens more than I realized it happens it And if you've read the Ralph Moody's autobiographical stories, he gives an example from his grandfather's region in Maine where he lived with his grandfather for a while. And there was a neighboring farm to their homestead, his grandfather's homestead, where the boundary of a field was defined by a creek. And So when you want to buy a piece of property, the scriptures give us the example of property deeds. Joshua, for example, contains a number of descriptions of property deeds. When you read that, it seems very dry and boring until I realize this is like reading a property description to the deed of your house, like it's filed in the courthouse.

It's exactly what it's like. They read exactly the same way. A line runs from this point, this geographical marker, this boundary point to this point to this point. That's how land is defined. And so when these fields and these properties were first being defined legally, the legal description might read it runs along the creek bed until this point, until this landmark, until this object.

Today people pound bars into the ground, but The definition is in terms of number of feet and directions. And so even if those get removed, they can be recreated accurately. But before the day of those kinds of boundary markers, you had to use natural landmarks to describe the borders of a field. And so in this case, a farmer moved the ancient, a neighboring farmer moved the boundary of this field by simply diverting the stream around. And so he enlarged his boundary of his farm by simply diverting the stream.

And then he went and said, well, this is the legal definition of the property, this stream. And look, this is my land because it's on this side of the stream and This was right. This happened right around the time Shortly after the Revolutionary War War for Independence Moody wrote around lived around night early 1900s and he's writing of his grandfather. And so this happened in that era, what we might call the shortly between the war for independence and the war of 1812. And apparently when this hat when this farmer did this and diverted the stream, there were not a lot of people there who could testify to where the original stream was.

And so this man successfully stole a field this way. And I won't tell you how the farmer who lost the field was able to exact payment for that field, but he did it in a very clever and honest way, exacted payment for that field for his children. Field from for his for his children but that that happens we had a neighbor just across our street today in this era who the person that sold him the property has tried is trying to steal a field through this same mechanism by trying to move the boundary marks and take a field that's not his. And so this is something that is very possible. You can steal by moving the boundary marks.

This is saying we need to have a respect, a respect for proper customs and boundaries. Proper customs and boundaries. Do not remove the ancient landmark which your fathers have set. It's speaking, I think, specifically of property boundaries. Nor enter the fields of the fatherless.

For their Redeemer is mighty, and He will plead their cause against you." Now, ancient landmarks, we could understand this. I think it could be also applied to other customs, other cultural customs that are proper. Sometimes we need to rethink cultural customs in the light of the Word of God and seek to change them and to transform them and to renew them. But we need to be mindful of customs, ancient customs, cultural customs that are proper. Those things are good.

The third principle here is in verse 29. It's a call to develop skill in our calling. Do you see a man who excels in his work? This is somebody who has dedicated himself. Like Ezra.

Ezra set himself to study the law and to become skilled at it. That's really what his name means. Do you see such a man who is skilled in his work, who excels in his work, who is prompt in his business? It takes time. Some people say it takes 10, 000 hours of diligent Working in a specific and thoughtful manner.

Ten thousand hours working in a specific area to generate expertise, to become good at it. The Babo is commending. It's commending that type of diligence. That type of focus of setting our eyes on a set of skills that enable us to use, to govern, to steward the world that God made, enable us to understand the world that God's made and to extract from this world resources. Do you see a man who excels, who is skilled in his work?

This is what it says, he will stand before kings. His skill will bring him before important people. Skills, in other words, skills will bring a demand for our work And that ought to be the approach that we seek to take, to develop skills, to become good, proficient at what we do, and to seek to succeed through developing skills, and not in other ways that might seem faster or easier. You've heard the saying, it's not what you know but who you know that counts. It's not what you know but who you know.

This passage says no, it's the other way around. It's not who you know, it's what you know. This says that who you know will follow what you know. It's that because you have skill in your work, then you will stand before kings. Then you will be noticed.

Who you follow, who you know, will follow what you know. And we need to trust God's word for that. We might see other people who are seeming to move ahead faster because they are able to court favor or they are able to see shortcuts. And I think we need to be willing to be patient and say, it's going to take some time. I'm willing to do it the slow way, if that's what it is.

I'm willing to learn the skills first. And if that takes me longer to build an income, so be it. So be it. Do you see a man who excels in his work? This is the person who will stand before kings.

The fourth principle is in chapter 23, the first three verses. When you sit down to eat with a ruler consider carefully What is before you and put a knife to your throat if you were a man given to appetite do not? Desire his delicacies for they are deceptive food When you sit down to eat with a ruler, this principle could be summarized as government gifts have strings attached. Government gifts have strings attached. When you sit down to eat to a ruler consider carefully and put a knife to your throat If you are given to happen if you have a desire for what he's offering to give you Solomon says put a knife to your throat Don't desire his delicacies for they are deceptive.

They're deceptive because they have strings attached. Accepting the loans and the bailout money that is being so freely offered right now, all the businesses and all the, and sadly I think even churches are signing up to receive these loans, these gifts of the government. This passage says, whoa, whoa, be careful, be very careful, Consider carefully what is before you. In many ways, what's happening now, all these loans, this money that's being loaned out, it's being created, it's debt. The debt is being created by the Federal Reserve and it's a lot like Joseph buying up the Egyptian economy in Exodus, Genesis 47.

You remember when the famine came on the land of Egypt and the people had no food and they started going to Joseph to buy their food and they ran out of money. The money failed because money isn't any, you can't eat money and they needed the food And so they ended up selling, they ended up giving to Joseph everything they had, including their land. They hadn't prepared for the famine. They hadn't stored up for the time of famine that was coming. And so now they were helpless, and Joseph was able to buy up the whole Egyptian economy.

And that's exactly what's happening here with the Federal Reserve. It's happened many times when farmers in the Midwest in the 80s got, saw the easy money of the loans, they took it. And they ended up losing all their farms. The Federal Reserve bought them up, or the corporations bought up the farmland. And it's happening, it's continued to happen, and this is what's going to happen now.

The Federal Reserve and the government will buy up our business. We need to remember this proverb, when you sit down deep with the ruler, consider carefully what is before you. Put a knife to your throat. Put a knife to your throat before you accept his gifts. Consider what he's asking.

What are the strings? Another place where these gifts of the government come is in medical subsidies. And we want the medicine, we want the treatment, and we take this gift, the subsidy, and then we find out that they can then decide what medicines we can have and what ones we can't have. Or tax breaks for children. We become dependent on them.

And then we supply whatever the government asks because we become dependent on those tax breaks. Or Probably one of the most most insidious Gifts dainties of the rulers of the civil ruler in our land has been free education That was a wonderful thing when it came out look you can Send your children off. We'll take care of them all day. It's free a lie but you don't have to pay for it and Parents mothers thought wow, this is great. I can have my day to myself They forgot that they would call to be a mother and to raise children.

And what happened as a result is it cost many generations their children. We need to learn to seek our deities from the Lord's table. He is far richer, and he gives with a bountiful eye, and his gifts are far better gifts. When he gives, when he gives, we are truly able to enjoy the gifts he's giving to us. And if he's not giving these gifts to us that we think we need, then we know that it is for a good reason.

It's for a good reason. I remember my early days in the company that I worked for, the first couple years I was given a lot of stock options in the company. And I never really got very much of anything out of them because the stock market crashed in 2000, you remember that? Stock market crashed and all those stock options for the most part became worthless and It and the stock never recovered 20 years later that company stock still hasn't recovered to to that to those levels And so those options which for people that got them a few years before I did were worth a lot of money. I didn't get hardly anything out of them, nothing.

But you know what? What I learned is I wasn't ready for the money back then. And I'm kind of glad now I didn't get it back then because I wasn't ready for it. And I would not have enjoyed it. I would not have used it as well.

I would not have been able to be a good steward of it. I still had a lot to learn about handling money. See, we need to look to the Lord for our wealth and for our security. We don't need to look to the government for our security. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

The Lord's name is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe. We don't need the government's gifts for our security. And we shouldn't be willing to sell our freedom for his dainties, No matter how tempting they look. If you are a man given to appetite, if what he's offering in front of you is something that you really, really, really want, the Bible says, put a knife to your throat.

In other words, stop. Stop. Stop. Don't fall for the trap. What he's offering is deceptive.

You know, meals, this is speaking in the context of a meal, but meals are a way to get information and to get inside of people. We have that phrase, you want to curry somebody's favor, you want to get something from them, we talk about wining and dining them. It's a seduction. We're seeking to persuade someone to do something. And it's effective.

That's why it's done. But when we're that recipient of that, we need to be aware. We need to be alert, we need to be asking why, why we shouldn't be naive. The Bible says do not desire, don't desire those delicacies that are being offered to you for free Because they're not. It's a deception.

The next principle is in verse 4 and 5. Do not overwork to be rich. Because of your own understanding, cease. In other words don't chase the money don't chase the money Don't make decisions that are based only on money. You will regret it because money is the most transient of all assets.

Money takes wings and flies away. Those who have worked to get money find that the more money they have the more burden and worry they have Because now how do they keep it? How do they retain it? When you have things like the stock market crashing 30% So people that have worked for money were overworked to be rich in this case Chased the money Now once they get it, now they have greater woes trying to keep it very often. Don't make decisions on money means that the lowest cost is not always the best purchase.

It's often not the best purchase. But rather in making decisions involving money we need to weigh things like relationships and family. They're important. They're probably more important than how much money you can make. Stability in the family, in the community is more important than how much money you can make.

Stability in the family, in the community is more important than how much money you can make. You know in my job each year they they ask if I'm willing to relocate and for a number of years I always said yes, because if you didn't say yes, well that would that would be a black mark right but for the last 10 years or so I've been saying no because I'm not willing to relocate anymore the Lord might call me The Lord might call me to go somewhere else. I don't know that. And if so, I'm willing to go, I hope, I pray. And I believe I am.

But I'm not willing to move to chase the money, to chase to get a better paying job. At least I hope I won't be. And so I've been saying when they ask I tell them no. No, I'm not willing to relocate, to take a promotion. Seek first, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things, Jesus says, will be added to you.

Don't strain for money. The Lord will give it to you without you having to chase it. In fact, He can rain it down on you. I've seen it happen. It's happened to me.

Now if that sounds like something you want to happen to you, then maybe you've missed the point of the text here. Seek first the kingdom of God and these things will be added to you. You don't need to chase them or worry about them. If you are diligent in your calling, diligent in your work, and you are working, the Lord will provide. And if he sees fit, he will rain money down on you.

You know, I have never asked for a raise in my entire life, I don't believe. Never asked for a raise. Now there have been seasons that I haven't gotten raises, an increase, and that's okay. And there have been many other times that I have But I haven't asked for them and because I haven't asked for them when they come there is no extra Burden coming with it. You know if you ask for a raise you are asking for a greater burden.

Because they are going to want to know, well what are you going to do more for me, since you are asking for more money. But if they give you a raise without asking, there is no burden that comes with that. It is a free gift. It is something you weren't expecting. You weren't planning on and you weren't needing or if you were needing, you were waiting for the Lord on it.

And so it comes in without an extra increase in responsibility or burden. I remember after one of our moves, because see I used to move for jobs, part of it was necessary when I was in the Navy that was a part of the job. You moved around, they ordered you around. But I remember moving to a church once and met a man there and I got to know him. He was a very wise man.

And I found out he was a he was a scientist like I was and I found out in the course of getting to know him better that He had out of college out of graduate school. He had taken a lower paying less prestigious job in order to be near his family. And I, you know, I didn't say anything but I just thought that was unnecessary. That you should be able to take the best job no matter where it goes. But you know, I've changed on that.

I've realized there was great wisdom in what he did. And you know what? He's the first, he's the youngest guy I know to retire. Retiring doesn't mean he's not active, it simply means he no longer needs his job to fund his living. He's the youngest guy I know personally to have done that.

And, But I also realized that he was valuing his family and the relationships with his family and the desire to stay close to the family farm and the family home, you know, within a couple hours of driving. Because there is value in that, and it's important. He wasn't chasing the money, but the Lord provided it for him. Do not overwork to be rich. Because of your own understanding, cease.

Will you set your eyes on what is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings and they fly away like an eagle to heaven And if we're grasping for that money, it will always slip through our fingers. But when we lay hold of the kingdom of God and seek that first and put our treasure in heaven, because Jesus says your heart will be where your treasure is, if we put our treasure in heaven and make our first and primary goal to glorify the Lord to serve him to serve his people Lord says he'll provide everything that we need yes he can make it rain money. Now the next principle is verses 6 through 8. Speaks about a miser.

Don't eat the bread of a miser, nor desire his delicacies. For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, he says, but his heart isn't with you. The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit. Not everyone means what they say.

This miser is somebody who's saying, hey come and hey here's some food, please sit down and enjoy it. But it's not what he means. It's not what he means. It's not what his heart is wanting to say. He's saying it because he has to say it.

He's saying for some reason because he thinks he's trying to save a guilty conscience he's trying to do something but it's not because he really wants to bless you with this food. He's thinking they're eating up all my food and he's really not happy about it. But he's telling you, eat and drink. His heart is not with you. He's lying.

He's not meaning what he's saying. Miser is somebody who has set his heart on his wealth. And the Bible says he doesn't mean what he says when he's offering a gift. When you're offered a gift, remember not everyone wants you to take it. We need the discernment of the Holy Spirit to know when a gift is offered in sincerity or when it's offered to the benefit of the giver to ease their conscience, or simply because they are giving out of a sense of obligation.

We have to Be careful that we don't accept the gift because we're too proud to accept the gift. We also need to remember that there might be times when somebody isn't offering a gift in sincerity and It might be wiser in that case not to accept the gift, but to decline it respectfully and graciously. You'll make them happy. You'll make them happy. And last principle is to remember that some people don't want to learn.

Do not speak in the hearing of a fool for he will despise the wisdom of your words." In Jesus' words, don't cast your pearls before swine. Earlier in Proverbs 9, Solomon warned us not to rebuke a scoffer. In other words, don't try to teach people that don't want to learn. It's a waste of time. Sometimes when we sense that people don't want to learn, it's better to just be quiet and let them learn by experience than trying to step in and teach them something that they're not ready to learn.

As the saying goes, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. If you try and teach somebody that is not ready to learn, all you end up is creating a problem, creating friction, creating a break in a relationship. This is another time where we need prayer. We need prayer, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us and to give us discernment about who might not be ready to hear. We on the other hand, we want to be those who seek wisdom, who seek after Christ because it is in Christ that all wisdom and knowledge has been hid.

It's in Christ and nowhere else and anything that we know we know because the Lord reveals it to us. So may the Lord bless our labor as we seek first his kingdom and may he give us discernment and may he give to us wisdom, wisdom of Christ. Let's pray. Almighty Heavenly Father, Your Word speaks to every area of our life. Our senses, Lord, so often have become dull from lack of practice.

We ask that you would revive our hearts, that you would turn our mind back to think your thoughts after you. May we be students of your word, that we might be your disciples, that we might know you more. Oh, Father, forgive us where we have sought after you for the blessings that we thought you might give us, instead of seeking after you, that we might have you and know you, which is everlasting life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.