Title: Profits from hard work
[Min Byeong-seok’s Proverbs Exposition] 33 Profits from hard work
(Text: Proverbs 14:22-27)
Today's exposition of Proverbs is about to receive grace by saying, 'Profit comes from hard work'. Today's sermon is going to focus on verse 23 of the main text. It is said, “There is profit in all toil, but the words of the lips bring only need.” The lesson this verse teaches us is that while emphasizing the honor of human labor and toil, he is heeded of the futility of the words of the lips. And the meaning contained in these words is a metaphor for the fact that a person who works is quiet, but a person who talks a lot hates work.
1. Lessons not to be lazy
The Bible commands the Christian to live his life in hard work for himself. The Bible hates lazy people and rebukes them in various ways. It is teaching that everyone should be diligent and work hard. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10, the Apostle Paul said, “Even while we are with you, we command you, if anyone does not want to work, let him not eat.
The Bible teaches that if you do not want to work, do not eat. Verse 8 tells us, “Toil and toil, work day and night.” He tells them to help the poor with the fruits of their labor. Ephesians 4:28 says, “Let no one who steals steal again, but rather let him labor, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to give to the needy.” Proverbs 6:6 says this. “Go to the ant, you lazy, and see what it does, and be wise.”
He also condemns those who are lazy in God's work. What did the servant who received one talent say in Matthew 25? He rebuked him for being an “evil and lazy servant.” In Romans 12:11, regarding how Christians should treat the Lord's work, it says, "Do not be lazy in diligence, but serve the Lord with zeal." Do not be lazy in serving the Lord, but be diligent. He told me to be passionate about it. We should be able to pray with these words. How diligent have I been without being lazy in the work of the Lord? How zealous were you to do the Lord's work? is to do
One thing is clear from our church life. If a diligent person usually comes to church and believes in Jesus, it is a fact that such a person is also diligent in serving the Lord. Such a person is doing well in the church service, devoting himself, and rolling up his hands in giving alms. However, people who are lazy by nature and have a reputation for being lazy both at home and in society are also lazy in believing in Jesus. There is one thing that such a person is diligent about. That mouth is diligent instead of hands. Such people are lazy even if they take on the office, and at least they are lazy to attend the worship service, so they always walk through the doorsteps of the church in a hurry after the service time starts.
So how does a lazy person live? Let's look at Proverbs 20:4. It says, “The lazy man does not plow in the autumn; therefore at harvest time he will beg, but will not find anything.” A person who does not plow a field cannot harvest anything from that field. He worked hard to gather a lot of grain, and he piled up the barns to fill them up, and when he was full, he had nothing to eat, and there was no one to help him.
2. Every effort has a profit.
Whether in work or in faith, the fruit is the reward of hard work. God's law is that it cannot bear fruit without labor. We can see that all the fruits of the faithful that Jesus praised in Matthew 25 are the fruits of our hard work in our daily life. “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to see me.” He said, "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me," he said, referring to the reward for the hard work we did to our neighbors in our lives.
The apostle Paul said, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 are the fruits of the Christian’s light.
When God first created man, he did not create to make man work. Humans were created on the last day of the sixth day in God's creation history, and on the seventh day after that, they enjoyed the blessing of rest with God. Rest is the opposite of working.
But after Adam sinned, we humans received a new command from God. In Genesis 3, God told Adam, “You will eat of its fruit in toil all the days of your life.” And again, he said, ‘In the sweat of your face you will eat food’. Therefore, it is considered a sin to gain by fire in the Bible. Let's look at God's blessings on those who work. In Psalm 128:1-2, it says, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk in His ways; for you will eat the work of your hands and toil, and you will be blessed and prosper.”
God's blessings do not suddenly fall like lightning without a stump. You said that you will eat according to the labor of your hands. The blessing that we can eat with our own hands as we labored is a normal blessing God gives to humans. These blessings are not available to everyone. He said it is a blessing given to those who fear God. People who enjoy these blessings and live are called prosperous people. Judging from these words, he said that everyone who fears God and walks in the way is a person who works diligently and will receive a sufficient reward from God for his hard work, and his life will go well and prosper.
On the other hand, what will happen to those who do not enjoy these blessings? Haggai 1:6 says, “They sown plentifully, but they earn little; they eat, but are not satisfied; they drink, but are not satisfied; they clothe, but they are not warm; and the laborer receives wages, but puts it into a bag with holes in it.” It means you don't get paid for your work. The saying that even if you sow a lot of seeds, your income is low, locusts fly and peck, and the weeds interfere with the harvest of the wheat. He said he was not full even if he ate. Because there is nothing to eat. They say that they are not satisfied with drinking, so they grow grapes, but the fruit is not good enough to drink from the winepress. It's not warm even when you're wearing it, so you don't have clothes to wear warmly. It is said that even if a worker receives a wage, it will be put into a shack with a hole in it. Sometimes they are destroyed by thieves, money goes to hospitals because of illness, and sometimes they burn to ashes.
In Matthew 6, in Jesus' sermon on the mount, the words, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" are easily misunderstood. Jesus told us not to worry about the food, clothing, and shelter that the world is worried about, and told us to look at the birds in the air. They neither sow nor reap, but God feeds them. But these birds do not sit still on the branches. It's hard work in the air all day long, diligently searching for food. You too should work like birds. The same is true for the lilies of the field. The lilies of the field do not work and do not take good care of themselves, but they grow beautifully. But in order for the lily to bear fruit, it must fall to the ground and kill its own life. And it has to grow with the wind and rain. You need to absorb adequate moisture from the ground and diligently supply it to your body.
What did the Lord say? “How much more,” he said. By the word you, I don't refer to geeks who play and eat quietly. I'm not referring to a lazy person. This is the saying, “If you work diligently, how much more will God not give you your daily bread?” So, what does it mean to ‘seek first his kingdom and his righteousness’? It is to use our hands diligently for the sake of the kingdom of God as the fruits of our hard work. Then God's blessings will come more abundantly. The content of Matthew 6:19-20 has the same meaning as this verse. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor registration destroys, and where thieves break in. You can't do it, you can't steal.' In this way, it is revealing in many ways that God gives blessings to those who work.
3. Blessings for Workers
So, what blessings do those who work receive?
(1) First, we receive the blessing that God is with us. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps watch in vain.” It is God's cooperation in building our house. It means that God is with you in protecting the city.
Whatever we do, we must put our heart and mind into it. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, as to the Lord, and not to men.” What we do is sacred. You have to work with all your heart as if you were doing it for the Lord. It is not pleasing to God to blindly blindly deceive or pass it over in moderation because it causes great loss to others.
(2) A person who works can acquire valuable knowledge while working. Any field of knowledge comes from work. A person who makes a good product by mastering his or her work is more honorable than a person who has knowledge through study. Educational effects can only be achieved when actual education or real education is combined with education.
They said that they know 25% of what they hear with their ears, 45% of what they see with their eyes, 65% of what they memorize, and 85% of what they do with their hands. The same is true of the religious life. What is the only thing that can only be known is faith? When we obey what we know, our faith actually grows amazingly.
(3) Those who work next will receive the blessing of health. Among the causes of illness, there are many diseases that result from not working. Doctors give exercise to the elderly or debilitated people. The reason why so-called jogging or walking is good for health is because people need to move their body to be healthy.
Why did God give us a hand? It was not given to others to use violence or use it. It was not given to you to steal or to gamble. He was given to do what pleases God. Wrap your hand in a bandage and try to immobilize it for several months. That hand becomes an asshole.
A person who is diligent in his work also benefits a moral life. Accidents happen when people are idle. Among the wives of Professor Ga-Han Han, a free wife is created, and Madames Yu Yu, who are idle, dance and destroy the family. When King David was free, he was walking around the city tower on a moonlit night, and found Uriah's wife taking off her clothes and bathing, and he committed a sin.
Conclusion: Everyone, God's blessings are on those who work. In everything we do, whether we are doing business, running a business, labor, technical work, commerce, or whatever we do, God's blessings will come if we do it right, honestly, and diligently as if we were doing God's work. Do not be lazy in your work, be diligent in your work, believing that the blessings of the Word that He will do all of these things will come to you if you are zealous and diligent in the work of God. do. *