Book of Proverbs
Lesson 9
Part 2
How are You Doing at Overcoming the Distracted Life Today?
This is Lesson 9 Part 2, which I called the three biblical keys to wisdom in our friendship. There are three
of them and I’d like to walk through them with you. This is if we’re not distracted from God’s wisdom, this is
what we start incorporating into our lives.
God advises us first of all, if we are wise:
To value our friends.
To invest in our friends, instead of being foolish and silly and hardened.
To give counsel to our friends.
Now, let me just take you through these verses.
Proverbs 27:10,
“Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s
house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother
far off.”
Proverbs 18:24,
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother.”
Proverbs 27:6,
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
Proverbs 27:9
“Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.”
Proverbs 27:17
“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
Open your Bible to chapter 27 of the
book of Proverbs and verse 10. Just to give you a contrast, if we choose to overcome our distracted, self-absorbed
focused life. If we choose to do that, one of the areas God says we should work on is, we should learn to value
friends. Chapter 27 in verse 10 says, “Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, nor go to your
brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.” You know what
the Lord says? Value friends, that’s wisdom.
Secondly, the Lord says, invest in them. Turn back to chapter 18 in your Bible and look at verse 24. This is the
investment we’re supposed to make if we’re wise, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a
friend who sticks closer than a brother.” What we do is, we invest in them. To be friendly means you spend time
with them. You get to know and enjoy things that they enjoy. We spend time with our friends. Now, remember the
Bible says that if we’re wise, we don’t gravitate toward friends, that was way back if you remember, in the earlier
lessons I talked about being selective. Why does Solomon ruin his life? He followed after pagans, worshiping other
gods. Psalm 1 says don’t walk, stand, or sit in the seat of the scorner, those who mock God, those who are not walking
in His way. So, this isn’t talking about pagan, wicked, ungodly friends, but wise friends. We invest in them.
Finally, God says, if we’re going to be a good friend and wise, look at chapter 27, this is probably the hardest part
of biblical friendship. A wise person values and invests in friendship but look at chapter 27, verse 6. This is probably
the single hardest thing for me. It’s very hard for me, with my friends that I know and love and spend time with to do
this. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” We’re supposed to counsel our
friends. What does that mean? That’s part of our fellowship, walking in the light. We say you’re acting a little
differently, what’s going on in your life, you’ve changed. We start applying biblical truth.
In fact, keep going to verse 9. It says, “ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s
friend gives delight by hearty counsel.” How many times in my life have people come to me and said, you’re not
acting the same way we’re used to. What’s going on in your life? Is everything ok? They start asking questions
like, is everything all right in your family? Is everything all right between you and the Lord, what’s going on?
A friend we counsel biblically.
In fact, here’s the last one. Look at verse 17. Verse 17 of chapter 27 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man
sharpens
the countenance of his friend.” What the Lord is telling us is that we are supposed to get involved in our
friends’ lives.
A New Testament example of this, turn to
Hebrews chapter 10.
1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with
those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have
had no more conscience of sins.
3But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast
thou prepared me:
6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not,
neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never
take away sins:
12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into
their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21And having an high priest over the house of God;
22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:
and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sins,
27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son
of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath
done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again,
The Lord shall judge his people.
31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of
afflictions;
33Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became
companions of them that were so used.
34For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves
that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
35Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
36For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
37For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
This is why believers get together.
Hebrews 10 defines what we as brothers and sisters in Christ, that we’re sharpening. This is what we’re supposed
to be doing. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” A wise person will be
close enough to their friends, their spiritual friends, or godly friends, or it’s okay to have pagan friends but
with pagan friends every time possible, if they’re not saved, we try and bring up the gospel. In fact, I would be
known to all my friends as a born again, Christian. Don’t be a secret agent. Christian’s don’t hide from people
that you’re a believer because you’re supposed to be there pointing them to Christ. Or Hebrews 10:24 if they’re
a believer, “considering how to stir them up to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another […] as we see the Day approaching.” So, back to
the slides, there are three biblical keys to wise friendship. Don’t get distracted from them.
Secondly, the foolishness of the distracted life is what we need to look at and especially, we want to see how
the book of Proverbs describes the distracted life as, see that word?
Proverbs 28:19
“He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty
enough.”
Let’s go there Proverbs 28. This is how God describes a distracted person,
Proverbs 28:19. “He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows Vain persons…” it says
follows empty dreams, follows empty people, follows foolish things, frivolity, emptiness, distraction.
What the Lord says is that we need to be very careful about frivolity.
Could I define it for you? We can define it even with words, not in the Bible. Let me read this to you. Self
absorption, which is following frivolity, is particularly common among young males. It may be the greatest
danger of our current world that we’re living in, that is immersed in digital amusement. The distracted life
is most fed by the electronic world we’re living in. Not only does withdrawal into an electronica enable a
young man to bypass the confusion and pain of trying to give their emotions coherence, it helps young men and
women avoid the realities of life. All of us are flawed. All of us are vulnerable. All of us are ordinary human
beings. Wow.
I read, a psychiatrist who was commenting on the change, the rewiring of adolescent teenage young adult brains.
This is what this unbeliever said and it’s true, even though they don’t know Christ, they’re observing reality
in these people’s lives. He said there is a stratospheric increase in diagnosed learning and attention deficits,
which totally correlates to the advent of the electronic playground. Now, when I was little, we went to the
playground. It had swings, slides, monkey bars, and we were outside in sandboxes. We were so busy. Merry-go-rounds!
We were just relating to one another and taking turns and getting bumped and scraped and falling and all this
stuff playground. But today we have the advent of the electronic playground.
Look at all the people around when you are out and about in this World. What do you see? They had the largest
handheld, little device I’d ever seen for playing games.
It had the most intense big finger and hand holders. I was just amazed because they were so fast. What they were
doing is, they were creating their avatars and they would pick from this whole side of all these different looking
people. They pick one and then they’d pick the color of their hair and then they’d pick whether they were muscular.
Then they got their weaponry. It was the most amazing big screen experience, but you know what? They were totally
immersed with their earbuds and their fingers going into this world, they completely designed themselves, and what
didn’t they have to do. They didn’t have to think about the realities of being a flawed, vulnerable, ordinary human
being. Their avatar, their little game, people were perfect, and they were equipped exactly as they want them, and
they responded exactly as they made them react. Do you know what that does? This is what the psychiatrist said.
When so many Americans meet the diagnostic criteria for attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, it’s arguably
no longer a disorder, it’s the way we’ve become. Why? He concludes, this psychiatrist, this doctor of the organ
called our mind, or the brain said; yes, we not just boys but adults of both sexes seem to have an insatiable
hunger for handheld devices that deliver limitless… what does the article say?… distractions.
Back to the Bible. What’s the foolishness of the distracted life? Well, this is what it is. It’s teaching us to
float through life. I’m asking you a question. Are you floating through life or are you paddling
against the current? Go to Colossians chapter 3:1.
Colossians 3:1,
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
“My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:”
“If then you were raised with Christ,” and that’s Paul’s saying, on the basis of the fact you were raised with Christ because when
we got saved, when we went from being lost to saved, we identified with Christ in His death, burial, and
resurrection. Our sins were buried with Him and we were raised in newness of life. So, since all that happened,
that’s the first part of verse one, “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right
hand of God.” The Christian life is a daily choice of whether I’m going to turn my focus, attention, and desires
upward toward the Lord. Look how it describes Him, where Christ is, “sitting, at the right hand of God.” So, I
have a constant choice every day. I decide today, am I going to focus where Christ is seated, at the right hand
of God and live my life knowing He’s watching me or not? Am I going to be distracted? Am I going to be acting
foolishly? Or am I going to focus on the Lord? That’s the first one. Am I going to seek him?
By the way, that’s an imperative. If you know anything about the Greek language, that is a command from God.
Many things the Lord just presents and just says this is true. Other things the Lord presents, in the form of the
Greek languages, it’s a command. It’s non-optional, we must respond yes or no right now. No means disobedience
and yes means obedience.
Look at verse two, another command, another imperative. The first one was seek, so seek above. The second one,
verse 2,
Colossians 3:2
2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
“set your affection” or mind “on things above, not on things on the Earth.” So, look up and focus and desire
those things. As a believer, if we’re not actively engaged in battling distraction in life, we will slowly
become amused, carried along, floating with the current of the world. By the way, which direction is the
current of the world going? It’s going away from God. I was born, floating away from God. I was born into the
river of life. My parents, even though they were believers, when I was born, I was born a lost, pagan, selfish,
proud, self-centered, murderous if I could have, I used to get so angry and hit people with my rattle in the
playpen. That’s how we’re born, floating away from God. Listen, if we are not actively engaged in battling the
distracted life, if we aren’t saying by your grace, I want to set my affection on things above, Colossians 1.
I want to seek those things, which are above Colossians 3:2. If I don’t do that, I will become amused.
What is amused? Very interesting in English, the word amuse. Actually, it’s got two parts, a and muse. You all
know what muse is. Muse means to think deeply, to meditate on something. In fact, a person who thinks deeply in
Old English is called a muse. That was a type of person. They just thought about stuff a lot. This is what’s
called the alpha privative in philology. When we study language, a means not so. Not thinking deeply. That’s
what amusement is. When I don’t want to think deeply about anything, I go to the amusement park or I go to my
game or whatever. I get amused. So, if I’m not actively seeking not be distracted,
Colossians 3:1-2,
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
I will slowly become amused, not think deeply about anything. I’ll get carried along. I’ll get floating with
the current of the world and start going away from God.
God BlessLesson 9 Part 3 next.
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
Book of Proverbs Lesson 9 Part 2