Proverbs24:30 I went by the field of the slothful, andby the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
Proverbs24:31 And, lo, it was all grown over withthorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereofwas broken down.
Proverbs24:32 Then I saw, and considered it well: Ilooked upon it, and received instruction.
Proverbs 24:33 [Yet] a little sleep, alittle slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Proverbs 24:34 Soshall thy poverty come [as] one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
As we read these verses we quicklysee and understand what is being said. We then move on to the next verses, butdid we miss something in the process? If you have spent any time at all in thebook of Proverbs you will remember reading earlier about a little sleep andfolding of the hands and how that poverty is sure to follow.
Proverbs 6:10 [Yet] alittle sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Proverbs 6:11 Soshall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. Afterreading both sets of verses did you notice the endings of verse 34 and verse 11″as an armed man.” So great and wise a man as Solomon receivedinstruction from the field and of the slothful and foolish man. The teaching isin the field; learn what happens in the field. There should be just a littlesleep; not a lot. There should only be just a little folding of the hands; notmuch and then just a little dozing and nodding; not much. Poverty will come;not all at once. A little drug use, a little alcohol use, a little viewing onthe Internet, a little anger, a little look, a little desire, a little lust, alittle pride, a little greed.
Proverbs 23:21 For thedrunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [aman] with rags.
Proverbs 23:32 At thelast it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Because of the little and the notpaying attention, because you think you have it all under control you lose asif you were held up by an armed man. When in reality we allow it to happen tous and we did nothing to stop it. Do nothing and we will be over taken, not allat once; a little at a time. Then the same is true in reverse. The mentalpicture is a field that was once kept neat, nice and clean but because theowner slowly stops attending to it, it was eventually over taken. Today if wewill start work little by little with God’s help we can restore the years thatthe locust has eaten.
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you theyears that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and thepalmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
In HIM we have help without HIM weare held up!
John 10:10 The thiefcometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that theymight have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.
Not all at once a little at a time!
