Proverbs 24:30 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Proverbs 24:30

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Refers back to Proverbs 6:10-11.Slothfulness is a subject which Solomon returns to repeatedly, but the particular emphasis here is the subtle way in which it creeps up on us. In the context of our living in a fallen world alongside the wicked this is warning about the need to be always pressing forward in the Christian life, and never taking our queue from the spiritual indifference of those around us who have no concern for their eternal souls.The description is of a man in possession of a property which includes an enclosed garden or field of some sort. He has perhaps inherited it and others have set it up, built a wall and organised the layout of the various beds. But he has neglected it and squandered the opportunity to make something of beauty out of it, or to make a productive garden for the household. There is no suggestion that there is anything wrong with the garden – its soil or location or aspect – but this is entirely due to negligence. There has been no weeding, so that thorns, thistles, and nettles have taken over and are all that can be seen. The wall that should have kept out prying eyes has broken down and not been repaired and although a little effort would have prevented this, nothing has been done. This is to the shame of the owner who sends a message to all his neighbours that he lacks the ability to care for his own property.How did all this come about? Solomon reflects on this and identifies the key failing and by implication how it must be avoided. Many small, seemingly innocent acts of laziness, led up to this situation. There was no obvious major decision not to maintain the property. Instead there was a pattern of excusing inactivity, the owner telling himself that it was only an exceptional lapse. The word ‘little’ repeated three times stresses this. It was a little thing in his eyes when he decided to put of doing the necessary work, and he thought he would easily be able to catch up on another occasion. But he was deceiving himself, and poverty like an armed man crept up on him, so that by the time he realised what had happened, he was bound hand and foot. Let us not therefore take our cue from those around us who are perishing and numb to the needs of the soul.

Application

This is the way that Satan seeks to neutralise the people of God in their service for God and in their progress in sanctification. He gets us to tell ourselves that every neglect is exceptional and it will be a simple matter to catch up next time. We need to know ourselves and not listen to this voice within us. We need to throw off the covers of comfort and ease, and make ourselves to do what needs to be done. The Christian life is a life of discipline, and without constancy in this we will sink into self-justified inactivity. It is necessary therefore to be stricter with ourselves than seems necessary at first. For this reason Paul says, ‘Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:13-14). Like a watchman on the walls of a city under attack we must stay awake while all around sleep.

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Proverbs 24:30 Commentary and Bible Study