Quick Note – Proverbs 28:19

Proverbs 28:19 – “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.”

In our day and age, there are plenty of things that can keep our minds distracted and busy with things that are really not that important.  We have smart phones that occupy most of our travel time with short mini-games that usually capture our attention so much that we continue to play it even when we get to our destination.  We have television screens that eat up hours of our week as we catch up on five to six favorite shows of an hour each.  We have earphones blasting our favorite tunes while blocking out meaningful conversations with those around us as well as our surroundings.  And we even have things that are good for learning like the Internet and books that consume some of the precious twenty-four hours we have in a day.  These are only a few of the multiple distractions that we face each day, which may only take up a few minutes at a time but end up compiling into thousands of wasted hours a year doing meaningless things.  This time would be much better served doing something meaningful like building our relationship with Christ and serving Him in ministry, and yet we continue to spend it in these worthless pursuits.

Why do we do that?  It is likely for the same reasons that Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil when she was tempted in Genesis 3 – “good for food,” “delight to the eyes,” and “desired to make one wise.”  We tend to find these worthless pursuits falling into at least one of these three categories, usually the “delight to the eyes” one.  Then we fulfill that desire with the hope of just gratifying it for a short time, eventually finding ourselves enslaved to that one thing for hours.  I must admit that I fall into this same trap quite often.  For me, it comes in the form of comic books, Iphone apps, Internet news, and Facebook, for when I plan to limit myself to a few minutes at a time, I usually end up going back multiple times to an equivalence of at least two-three hours.  Then, I wonder where all my time went, when obviously it was squandered with worthless pursuits.  It is a bad habit that needs to be broken, which is why the passage for today was so piercing to me.

Although our passage today is just a short and simple proverb recorded for us by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, it carries with it a punch that convicts like no tomorrow.  We can all attest to something in our lives which we can consider a worthless pursuit; it could be ranking up on our new video game, it could be learning all the details of each and every Harry Potter book, it could be watching five seasons of a TV show, and it can even be surfing the net for the latest news or celebrity gossip.  These are all things that are not necessarily bad but can certainly rob the most precious commodity we have – time.  Instead of working toward something that will produce lasting value, we pursue something completely useless, especially in God’s kingdom.  We need to start doing things that can produce bread both physically and spiritually.  Most certainly, we must stop being idle and get working to provide for our families and futures; but more importantly, we must start working towards something that matters more, something that puts treasure of lasting value in heaven.  Instead of wasting time on worthless pursuits, let us seek to build our relationship with Christ seeking Him first; let us serve Him in the ministry He has called us to; let us share the Gospel with those around us providing them an opportunity to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  But never forget to take some time to rest, for even Christ told His disciples to rest (Mark 6:31).  Stop pursuing worthless pursuits and instead seek after Him and His will and do it.