Apicontent

The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings them trouble. (Proverbs 15:6)

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22)

In the house of the wise are scores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. (Proverbs 21:20)

When someone heard the maxim, ”A fool and his money are soon parted,” he responded, “How did the fool get any money in the first place?” Good question. If there is any truism that is economically sound, it is that “wisdom is a more significant factor in wealth acquisition than stupidity.”

It seems clear that King Solomon, one of history’s richest men, understood that sin in one’s life mitigates against life success—including financial success. The common experience among celebrities, whether they be pro athletes or media stars, is to receive vast wealth and then lose it to a lifestyle of sin and folly.

Principle: The single most significant factor in wealth acquisition is righteous character. Sin and stupidity are thieves.

I once interviewed the author of a book based on research into lottery and sweepstakes winners. The conclusion to the research was clear. Most winners wished they had never won; and only a handful had much, if anything, of the windfall left even a few years after. This pattern of wasted wealth has led some to speculate that if the riches of the wealthy were distributed evenly among the world’s people, within ten years 90 percent of the money would be back in the hands of the original owners. One thing is sure, the wise and righteous people would have an odds-on advantage in recovering lost wealth and even passing it along as an inheritance. Proverbs even declares that what sinners collect is destined for ultimate ownership by the righteous!

Principle: Both acquiring and retaining significant wealth are predicated on right living. Spending on self and sinful pleasures is like signing over resources to the godly; they’ll end up with them eventually anyway.

The method and motivation deployed in acquiring wealth are often missed factors in the pursuit of prosperity. Proverbs declares that ill-gotten gain will vanish and bring with it heaps of trouble (13:11 with 15:6).

Principle: Wealth secured through righteous motivation and God-honoring methods has built-in loss insurance. Even if lost, it will be restored.

Someone has said, “Money can’t buy happiness. It just helps pay for your misery.” If prosperity does not come as God’s reward for righteous living, it will not only fail to pay for your misery, but it will come packaged with more of it.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short. (Proverbs 10:27)

Long life is in her [Wisdom’s] right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. (Proverbs 3:16)

He who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long life. (Proverbs 28:16b)

The entertainment industry seems preoccupied with youth and the beauty and strength associated with it. This preoccupation has percolated into the entire culture as evidenced by the ubiquitous advertisements for products that (1) keep you young, (2) make you look young, or (3) extend life and vitality. However, the entire “youth culture” typically overlooks one key ingredient in retarding the effects of aging—righteousness.

When Solomon and his friends declare that the “fear of the Lord” adds years to one’s life, they are not, I believe, talking about some mysterious or miraculous divine intervention which lengthens a person’s life span. I believe they knew that righteous living insulates a person from a host of dynamics which tend to shorten one’s life.

Principle: The single most significant factor in longevity is avoiding the evil thoughts, actions, and relationships which shorten life.

When our children were young, and my wife and I were bent on instilling godly wisdom in them, we noted stories of terrible things that happened to people. Then we analyzed together where the people were and what they were doing to make them more vulnerable to the calamity they experienced.

One such dinner table story was of a young woman in our community who lost a limb by a violent attacker. When we analyzed the story, we discovered the woman met this stranger outside a bar in a rough section of town in the early hours of the morning and got into his car with him! Pretty stupid to be where she was, be there when she was, and to trust the one she trusted. While this act of folly didn’t cost the young woman her life, it cost her the quality of the rest of her life.

Principle: Acting out that which does not reflect God’s moral law is guaranteed to knock years off your life; doing the right thing is a guaranteed life extender.

Quite apart from circumstantial peril which can shorten one’s life, the internal destruction of evil is equally life-shortening. Worry, bit­terness, hatred, envy, covetousness, rebellion, ill-motivated anger, guilt, fear of discovery, and unteachability steal life from a person one day at a time by eroding away the “life power” from the human spirit. By contrast, peace, forgiveness, love, service, generosity, worship, confession, and joyful obedience all allow the omnipotent Spirit of God to infuse the human spirit with divine energy for living.

Principle: The power which sustains and lengthens life is Spirit, and long life is in the grasp of the one energized by the Holy Spirit, not the “unholy spirits” which erode life by degrees.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26)

Like cutting off one’s feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool. (Proverbs 26:6)

Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by. (Proverbs 26:10)

A maxim declares, ”A good man is hard to find.” The same goes for a good woman, I guess. Having been in management all my adult life, I’ve noticed an increasing lament among fellow managers over their inability to find dependable people in today’s hiring market.

As a counselor to younger people, I hear the continuing agony of not being able to find trustworthy, high-integrity potential marriage mates. As a founder and former board member of a Christian school, I see exasperation at the flakiness and lack of character of parents and students.

While this perspective may be a function of my advanced years, it also may reflect a shifting of our cultural “value core,” the commitment to virtue above all else. I could cite examples.

If it’s any consolation, King Solomon had to deal with these same issues involving lazy, undependable, and untrustworthy people three thousand years ago! He reserved some of his most colorful figures of speech for describing the perils of relying on the unreliable.

“Vinegar to the teeth” and “smoke to the eyes” are metaphors reserved for the sheer irritation of giving responsibility to lazy, unmotivated people. Expecting performance from these “slugs” (as in “sluggard”) is as annoying as feeling the “fur” on your incisors after eating rhubarb or being hit with a cloud of tear gas. You can’t tolerate either very long.

Principle: To those who rely on them, people with a poor work ethic are a continuing source of annoyance and irritation. At some point, they’ll be driven to seek relief from both.

Some people are not so lazy as they are unthinking. Stupid is the modern equivalent of the more refined biblical word foolish. In a 900 BC equivalent to “shooting yourself in the foot,” Solomon and the boys portray the horrific consequences of giving responsibility to an unwise person—cutting off your feet or drinking violence. Awful.

Principle: To cut your losses before they hit, don’t give any responsibility to a person beyond his “wisdom level.” If you do, it will severely impair both you and the goal pursuit.

Solomon had a great sense of humor. This randomly shooting archer illustration conjures up hilarious-but-frightening images. Like the “loose cannon” metaphor, this picture is of a wild-eyed guy shooting arrows with no care whatever what they hit or where they land. It’s like the cross-eyed discus thrower. He didn’t win many meets, but he surely kept the spectators alert! Those who aren’t selective in the “people choices” they make in life are equally dangerous.

Principle: Choose everyone on whom you plan to rely—friends, spouses, employees, pastors, committee members, and such—with extreme care. Haphazard choices will result in endless and unnecessary hurt.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. (Proverbs 1:8-9)

My wife and I stood in a long line with a sense of eager anticipation as we filed into a fortress-like structure with armed guards stationed strategically along the way. We were about to see the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. In a dark room in the bowels of the Tower of London, there they were a breathtakingly beautiful display of crowns and orbs and scepters and brooches of inestimable beauty and value. We were impressed. God…not so much.

Then in a more modest display, the female celebrities on the red carpet on Oscar night in Hollywood are known to wear jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to enhance their designer gowns. The Owner of all the world’s gold isn’t dazzled. For Him, gold is paving material for heavenly streets, and pearls are gate-making material.

God is impressed by the extravagant beauty of virtue! When He sees a person adorned in the awesome gemstones of holiness and the precious metals of purity, He is deeply moved. When He sees those who never rebelled at their parents’ godly counsel but wear it like a crown, that sight causes Him to say, “‘Wow!” When the beauty of His character is worn like adornment by one of His human creations, that takes God’s breath away.

Principle: God sees great beauty in a person who is virtuous­ who has listened to and obeyed the righteous teaching of a good mom and dad. That’s actually more rare than diamonds.

This principle is applied by Peter the apostle in 1 Peter 3. In his counsel to wives on how to be truly beautiful (!), he recommends, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves” (1 Peter 3:3-5).

This is not a license for men or women to present themselves like rag-a-muffins. It is an explanation that the world is full of people who are dressed to the nines but who, beneath the expensive clothing and jewelry, are morally extremely ugly.

Some of the folks who wore the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom were far from models of moral excellence. Similarly, some of the “stars” in the movie business who share in wealth which enables them to spend obscene amounts of money on clothing and jewelry are debauched.

Principle: Whatever moral beauty you received from righteous parents should be displayed in the public square and in the home. God will be deeply impressed by your being bedecked in virtue.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. (Proverbs 9:13)

She [the adulteress] is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home. (Proverbs 7:11)

A wicked man puts up a bold front, but an upright man gives thought to his ways. (Proverbs 21:29)

The guy who sat at the table with me was a giant of a man, and his looks were, well, scary. Tattooed and body-pierced, the guy who went by the nickname Tiger had all the marks of a hard, high-mile­age human being. He had been head of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Southern California; and he told of his life in drug dealing, perverse sex, compassionless crimes, intimidation, torture, killing, and hard time in the slammer. But now he was different. There was a softness in his speech and demeanor, a tenderness in his heart. He had met Jesus, surrendered to Him, and the Jesus in him was showing through.

Funny how that happens as we grow in our relationship with God. We shed the brash, insensitive, everything-be-damned attitude that is the hallmark of the wicked…however well they try to disguise it. When it serves their purposes, the wicked can put on a smooth-talk veneer—as in the adulteress whose speech “drips like honey” (5:3). But the hardness and brashness are still there under the surface.

Principle: Be wary of the person with brash, edgy speech. That sharpness may well have been honed by the grindstone of sin.

A major strategy of evil people is intimidation. Intimidating the weak or the righteous is considered a way to gain power and control. Incredibly, this strategy is so effective that professional seminars are offered in “assertiveness training.” Often “assertiveness” can be read as arrogant, blustery, bravado designed to take advantage of others. One need not be “assertive” to be a strong leader. Think coaches Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys or Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts. Moses himself was described as the “meekest [or humblest] man on earth” (Numbers 12:1-15). Yet he had sufficient chutzpah to lead three million grumbly Jews for forty years.

The wicked have to rely on bluster because they lack spiritual authority. A godly person with spiritual authority will control every situation out of a wellspring of security based on a relationship with God. In Jesus’ worst hour of torture, he was secure and “as a sheep before her shearers is silent” (Isaiah 53:7).

Principle: The righteous person speaks quietly with an authority infused with power from God. The arrogant intimidation of the wicked cannot shake it.

I once heard an impetuous, impulsive, unthinking person described as “He’s ‘ready-fire-aim.'” Acting before thinking, moving before establishing direction, and “giving no thought to his ways” are a mark of the sin-filled person. I believe that one of the deadly effects of refusing the enlightenment of God in one’s life is that it short-circuits the “consequence module” in the brain. The fool cannot see the disaster his evil will cause. Proverbs reserves the word “fool” for this person.

The righteous and God-fearing are careful to listen to His Word, weigh carefully and prayerfully the consequences of their words and actions, and seek wise counsel from Spirit-filled people. Their hearts are sensitive toward God and others.

Principle: The righteous person seeks God’s plan for words and action, and implements His plan in grace and patience. The “bold and the beautiful” without God don’t need His guidance; their own godlike status, they believe, will assure their success.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. (Proverbs 16:2)

If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done? (Proverbs 24:12)

I love the story of the mother of six children who discovered that cookies were missing from the kitchen cookie jar. Polling all six revealed nothing; all denied any knowledge of the theft. So she lined the children in a row facing her and announced, “It is quite obvious to me which one of you stole the cookies. That person has a feather on his nose.” When one child reached up to feel his nose, Mom had her culprit.

In nearly every context in life, we find the very clever human mind in denial or rationalization about evil deeds in life. NBA players protest wildly that they did not commit a foul when whistled. Prisoners are adamant that they didn’t commit the crime that put them behind bars and announce to the world, “I was framed.”

The mind is probably never more creative or resourceful than when it is thinking of ways to cover up sin, escape the consequences of wrongdoing, or justify evil by claiming it is really, down deep, good. After all, we know that—even in children: “The dog ate my homework.”

Solomon and his friends are so convinced of this principle that they declared it as a nonnegotiable fact: ”All a man’s ways seem innocent to him.”

Principle: When searching for wrongdoers, it helps to assume that nobody thinks they’ve done anything wrong. Even if they have, they most likely will see their behavior as well motivated and good.

In a graduate school course I took in management, the wise university professor set forth a maxim which supports King Solomon’s teaching. The prof drew an organizational chart on the board with boxes and an arrow from the bottom of the chart to the top, the highest authority box. Facing the class, he said, “Remember one thing. In an authority structure, negative information never flows up the structure. lt has to be pulled up.”

Now, why would that be? Solomon and his friends explain it this way. Those involved in the negative things that happen in an organization will commonly be struck with a sudden, chronic case of “I-can’t-recall syndrome.” This explains why detective work, forensic science, DNA analysis, congressional hearings, special investigators, and even waterboarding can become “necessary.” The guilty typically will claim ignorance of a matter and its details…unless the information is pulled out of them.

Principle: Human memory is weakest when asked to recall or accept responsibility for some catastrophe or evil act.

If these two principles seem to make discovering the true facts of a matter seem impossible, Proverbs makes it clear that this is not the case. In both of the above passages, the assurance is given that there is someone who knows all the details—even at the secret heart and motive level. That is God. Not only does He know everything, He acts on His knowledge “repaying each person for what he has done.” What a relief. There is ultimate justice. God guarantees it! When I was wronged as a young man, my father taught me, “Relax, Larry. God keeps good books.”

Principle: justice is ultimately served not by the feeble attempts at discovery we humans create but by the just actions of the Righteous One who already knows all the details…of everything.

Rely on that.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. (Proverbs 11:22)

Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. (Proverbs 5:15)

A famous TV and film celebrity was being interviewed on network television, and I was fascinated by her vulnerability and apparent honesty. Then came the question about her sexual relationships. With total transparency and no shame, she said, “I don’t consider myself promiscuous. I’ve only had a dozen men.”

I have reflected on that statement over the years and have grieved at the loss of any concept of sexual purity linked to words like chaste, virginal, celibate, or abstinent.

Rush Limbaugh got pummeled for calling an unmarried female law student who wanted the government to pay for her contraception aids a “slut.” I don’t know what that word means anymore, but it has traditionally described a woman who has many sexual partners outside of marriage. I regret that the double standard does not provide a similar label for profligate men (maybe “slutman”?).

The wise and Spirit-directed writers of the Book of Proverbs knew that moral purity—in men and women—has a very narrow definition. The standard is not “fewer than a dozen” sexual partners. The standard is one, and that one is to be in a covenant bond of marriage unless death opens the door to a second marriage. In a delicate euphemism, Proverbs 5:15 commands the morally responsible to “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.” Drinking at the trough of many partners under cover of being “sexually active” is sinful and personally destructive, pure and simple.

Principle: Sexual “inactivity” for unmarrieds is not a curse; it is a virtue.

We now live in a culture in which moral purity and chastity are causes for eye-rolling and derision. This is because “pushing the envelope” in every culture is always a push in the same direction—away from biblical definitions of righteousness. Unfortunately, many believers in Jesus Christ—some reading this—have bought into the world’s redefinitions.

Principle: God’s moral law is constantly being swept down­ stream by the world system through redefinition. Adhere precisely to God’s definitions, or you’ll be swept away by the current.

So what is a young (or old for that matter) unmarried person to do? Proverbs would answer that question, “be discrete” or “show discretion.” Flaunting your good looks or comely body to make yourself seductively attractive is really stupid. Linking beauty to moral indiscretion in humans and adorning a pig with gold jewelry makes the point with eloquence.

Principle: If one’s moral character is like swine, then adorning it with gold is wasteful and asinine. If one’s character is pure as gold, it will be sufficiently adorned already.

Don’t let the world system define morality and purity for you. God has already done that.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26, NASB)

All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. (Proverbs 16:2)

Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. (Proverbs 26:5)

The game has ended and the microphone near the lips of the athlete is poised to record an explanation for the awesome performance just witnessed. The star pulls himself up to his full stature and explains, “I just believed in myself.”

The daytime TV talk show host is casting her pearls of wisdom before millions of viewers and gives her solution to life’s most vexing issues: “You just have to follow your heart. Follow your inner guide.”

The premise underlying these gems is that in the center or heart of every person is the innate capability to achieve any goal or vision…without any outside insight, aid, or assistance. Success is merely a matter of self-belief and tracking the intents and desires of one’s heart.

It is hard to imagine a philosophy more alien to the teaching of the Bible or to Solomon’s wisdom literature. In at least a hundred pas­sages, the teaching is established that the “inner guide” we have with­out God (1) is marked by stupidity/folly, (2) is typified by self-delusion, and (3) will lead us to catastrophic consequences.

Principle: Unaided by outside wisdom and divine revelation, your “inner guide” will get you more lost than you already are.

Why is this so? Why is “believing in ourselves” not a successful way to live? One very simple reason: human beings have incredible powers of rationalization and self-delusion. Proverbs nails it with the word that “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him.” This spiritual disease of the intellect is not just chronic but terminal.

Principle: The most powerful delusion a person can entertain is that he does not commonly delude himself…in the direction of self-justification.

Finally, believing in oneself—to the exclusion of God and others who teach, support, and enable us—is really a perverse overestimation of both our human character and capacity. The prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Jesus clarified this issue with His statement, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). He knew the moral, intellectual, and spiritual impotence of human beings.

Principle: Claiming to be a “self-made person” whose success comes from “believing in oneself” is a slap in the face to the Creator who gave us talent and provided friends and family to nurture and encourage us along the way.

How much better the wise, faith-focused athlete who breathes into the microphone, “I thank my heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ for giving me the talent and the opportunity to excel.”

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all your paths. (Proverbs 5:21)

Ah, Las Vegas. “Lost Wages.” Sin City. That legally and morally wide open city in the desert of Nevada that prides itself in living by the maxim “Anything goes.” Someone has observed, “If God doesn’t destroy Las Vegas, He owes an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Perhaps.

In recent years, Vegas’s city promoters have adopted the slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It’s a powerful marketing idea—a place where you can sin with the stops out, and nobody outside Vegas will ever find out or hold you accountable for your behavior. I have news for everyone who believes this: you could not be more wrong.

One of the myths the enemy foists on unsuspecting humans is that there is a place where you can hide your sin…in the dark, in secret, where “nobody knows,” in Las Vegas. A boast of the wicked recorded in Psalm 94:7-11 is “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice.” To this, the response is

Take heed, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise? Does He who implanted the ear not hear? Does He who formed the eye not see? Does He who disciplines nations not punish? Does He who teaches mankind lack knowledge? The Lord knows all thoughts of man; He knows that they are futile.

Principle: An omniscient God surely knows what is done in secret and in the dark. His “night vision and X-ray goggles” make hiding ourselves or our sins from Him an exercise in futility—hiding in plain sight.

Isn’t it fascinating that the Proverbs 5 reminder that all our ways, deeds, pathways, and behaviors are known to the Lord follows directly the warnings against being involved in sexual immorality? Is not moral impurity the area of life commonly pursued in secret?

But God’s knowledge of human secrets is not just passive awareness. His observations are recorded for future accountability and discipline. The phrase in this verse “He examines all your paths” is a weighty concept. One translation of the Hebrew is “All His paths He marks out.” It’s the cosmic Attorney General collecting evidence for His case against the evildoer. It’s the hidden video camera recording every move of the thief or criminal for use in a future trial.

Principle: Hiding anything from God doesn’t work. He “takes notes” on all human behavior and keeps good books for eternal reference.

The bad news is that the record God keeps is used for the ultimate judgment of mankind. Those records show up at the White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20:12 as “the books of the deeds of men”—the testimonial evidence used as the basis for God’s ultimate sentencing.

The good news is that there is another record in that passage called the Book of Life containing the names of all who believe in Jesus and have been forgiven of even their not-so-secret sins.

Principle: It is folly to try to hide in full view of God. It is far better to acknowledge and confess what He already knows, so you can receive His gracious forgiveness.

Try it. You’ll like it.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:10–11)

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. (Proverbs 23:29–30)

In our world, poverty is often viewed as some cosmic curse visited on totally undeserving victims, and government taxation and the dole are perceived as the rightful remedy for this horrible injustice. Solomon and his sages held a different viewpoint. In a book in which a score of passages deal with poverty, key principles are set forth to cure this malady.

The first is hard work. Proverbs 6:10–11 is a portrait of a lazy person—sleeping, slumbering, and folding his hands to rest. This must have been an important principle to reinforce, as the same Proverb is repeated later in the book! If Proverbs were written today, the phrase might be, “Too much lying around, too much time on the couch watching TV, too much time on the Internet, and poverty will strike like lightning.” Again and again, in this book, hard work is lauded as central to elevating the poor out of their situation. Naturally, some cannot work or secure jobs because of physical or emotional impairment or political oppression, but these are not the majority of the poor in most cultures. One transcultural character attribute is laziness until it is driven out by parental instillation of the work ethic.

Principle: Working and eating are flip sides of the currency of life; without eating one cannot work and without working one cannot eat.

I love the expression, “ten-gallon hat”, that Texans have for a man who is all talk and no show, all bluster and no delivery, all image and no substance. They refer to this loser as “all hat and no cattle”! Note the principle listed above, “Mere talk leads only to poverty.” In the entertainment business, it seems that big talkers predominate, and hard workers are in the minority—especially when it comes to funding promises. One media pro says, “In Hollywood, money talk is trash until it’s cash.” Avoiding poverty is a matter of backing words with actions and dealing only with others who do the same.

Principle: Not only is talk “cheap”, without the backing of integrity and hard work, it creates deficits that can never be repaid.

A survey of homeless people in Los Angeles some time ago found that they fell into three rather equal categories—mentally impaired; those who legitimately had fallen on hard times through divorce, job loss, etc.; and substance abusers. That third category is addressed by Solomon and friends as “folly.” A modern word would be stupidity.

Those who through sheer stupidity succumb to drunkenness, sub­stance abuse, and gang connections take giant steps toward poverty. Solomon identified substance abusers by “woe,” “sorrow,” “strife,” “complaints,” “needless injuries,” and “bloodshot eyes.” An interesting mix of descriptors and hardly marks of whole, healthy, and prosperous people! The wise person avoids intoxicants, hallucinogens, substance abusers, dens of intoxication and addiction, and hangouts for fools.

Principle: Every person is designed to be intoxicated by God alone. Those ”under the influence” of any other person, substance, motivation, or power which does not draw them closer to Him are cruising for a bruising.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]