His Ambassador Blog

Proverbs is a book known for its applicable wisdom. Written by Solomon, the son of David and the third king of Israel. The Lord told Solomon that He would give him anything that He asked for. Instead of asking for riches, power, or anything of these sorts, Solomon asked for wisdom and the Lord greatly blessed him with such. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs so for the next 31 days of May we’re going to take a look at the wisdom in each one.

Chapter 6: Seven things the Lord hates

Diligence

“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?”(v.6-9)

Solomon uses an ant as a role model in this chapter. The ant is known for its diligence and its work ethic. Diligence and hard work is something the Lord calls us to. So what does this look like?

Well the ant does not have to be told what to do. The ant knows her job and she does it. She does not have to be begged to do what she is called to do. Also, the ant does her work in a timely fashion. She gets things done when they need to be and to do this she plans ahead. She is not wasteful of her time. She will not put things off. The lazy person loves procrastination.

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.”(v.10-15)

What comes of a man that has no will to work hard? He is found by poverty and evil. We are a busy people and if we’re not busy for the Lord we will find ourselves being busy with the ways of the world. One who is not passionate about the work of Christ and doing it as it needs to be done will find himself causing trouble and strife wherever he goes. He seeks out evil because he is not tending to anything else.

Abominations

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”(v.16-19)

The Lord hates sin. It is that simple. Because He is holy, He cannot and will not tolerate it. He hates sin because of the damage it brings to everything around it, especially His people.

The Lord hates haughty eyes. This is a look of pride. Someone who is full of ego and they see themselves as the best. Is not the very sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven?

The Lord hates a lying tongue. He is passionate and serious about truth. Thankfully our God honors truth and does not treat it lightly. He protects it and we should be speaking His truth.

The Lord hates hands that shed innocent blood. The lives of human beings are not ours to take. What more is there to say?

The Lord hates a heart that devises evil plans. God made the human heart to love Him and to love others. He didn’t create us to conduct evil, He created us for good. Devising with the wicked is not something we were ever meant to do.

The Lord hates feet that make haste to run to evil. Again, He created our bodies to work and our feet to share the good news. How could we use them to walk in the paths of evil?

The Lord hates a false witness. Lying against or about someone is not showing the love that He has called us to show to one another. It is a hatred and disrespect of truth. It is one of Satans most well known tricks: lies.

The Lord hates one who sows discord among others. God created us to live in harmony with one another. We are called to love, not to fight or hate.

We are called to be busy doing God’s work. Not falling into sin or the way of evil. We are created for Him and our lives should represent that.