Proverbs 21:26 Commentary and Bible Study

This verse is linked to verse 25 but it is a new point. Always, always be concerned to export more than you import. The indolent person, covets greedily all the day. He will not stop his thinking, wanting, desiring. ‘Oh I cannot get through the day’, somebody said to me, ‘without listening to such-and-such a kind of music. I have to have this.’ All through the day, I want this, I want that, I must have this, I must have that. Some people eat too much, some people furnish their homes too much. There is too much of this, too much of that, and it consumes all their daydreams and their time. ‘He coveteth greedily.’ He is taking in, you see, he is importing. Life is all about importing. How I feel, what I have, what I receive, what I enjoy, what I possess.‘But the righteous [this is sanctification] giveth’ and never holds back. He goes on giving. He is much more concerned about exporting than importing. Much more concerned about being helpful. Much more concerned about edifying speech and witness and contributing and not letting people go without. He is exporting all the time, whether by words or by kindness. For some Christians – and we admire them more than any others – this is their habitual pattern of life. You cannot go to see them without them wanting to give you something. They are always exporting. When we are in a bad state, we are always importing.So see sanctification from that aspect. That is what Solomon urges us to do. It is an aspect of the sanctified life, the outward flow is more important than what I desire or want.