When it comes to treasure, those who fail to plan for the future financially plan to fail financially in the future...

This week, we are talking about investing, which is a very practical and yet misunderstood aspect of how we manage the money, possessions, and treasure we have been given. Yesterday, we talked about the reality that investing, simply put, is making financial plans and provision for the future. There are two types of investing. The first type of investing is called short term savings, which involves putting money aside that is easily and readily accessible to provide for emergencies or future purchases. The second type of investing is long term savings, or investments, which are designed to provide for long term needs or goals.

We then began to look at a proverb that the smartest man who ever lived wrote to his son that is recorded for us in our Bibles in the book of proverbs. Now, a proverb is a little slice of truth about the way things generally happen in life. Solomon engaged a person who he referred to as a sluggard. A sluggard is one who lives a life that is reactive in nature and whose lifestyle is marked by lethargy, laziness, and a lack of motivation. Solomon commanded such a person to go to the ant and observe her ways.

Solomon then explained that what the sluggard, or lazy person, would learn from the lifestyle of the ant would make them wise. In the book of Proverbs, the phrase to be wise or the word wisdom refers to a developed skill for living life that brings positive results. In other words, Solomon is saying, “your lifestyle of laziness and lethargy is not going to bring you positive results, so go learn from the ant so that you can develop some skills for living life that will bring you positive results”. Today, we will see Solomon describe to the sluggard the wisdom of the ant that produces such positive results in Proverbs 6:7:

Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest.

To understand what Solomon is communicating here, we first need to define some terms. When Solomon refers to the ant having no chief, he is explaining that the any has no leader giving him commands or directions to follow. An officer, in the language that this letter was originally written in was a term that was used to describe an accountant or record keeper. When Solomon refers to a ruler, he is referring to someone who exercises dominion or authority over another.

Solomon’s point is that the ant does not have anyone giving orders as to what they should be doing. The ant does not have anyone keeping track or record of what they are doing. The ant does not have anyone that they have to report to who holds them accountable for what they do.

Yet, in spite of the fact that the ant has no one in authority over them that gives them direction and holds them accountable, Solomon states that the ant prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. In the agrarian culture of Solomon’s day, there were seasons of the year where food grew and there were seasons of the year where food would not grow.

And in such a culture the summer and the fall were the prime times when food needed to be gathered, prepared, and stored so that it would be available during the winter and spring months when food was scarce. For the ant to survive, the ant must harvest his food the right way at the right time.

 

And Solomon’s point is that no one needed to motivate the ant; no one needed to record the ant’s progress in order to hold them accountable; no one needed to exercise dominion or rule over the ant in order for the ant to do what they needed to do in order to survive. Solomon then asks the sluggard a very pointed question in verse 9:

How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest "—

In other words, Solomon asks the sluggard “how much longer are you going to stay sleeping? How much longer are you going to lay on the couch napping your life away? When are you going to get up from your lazy and lethargic lifestyle that just sleeps through life and get to work?”

You see, there are seasons in our lives that are like the summer and fall for the ant. These are the seasons in our lives when we are physically and emotionally in a condition where we can earn income. For most Americans, the prime income earning years range from 22-65 years old. In other words, we have a 40-45 year window that is our summer and fall seasons in our life. We have a 40-45 year window in which to prepare and gather the resources that are necessary for the later years of our lives.

And, just like the ant, for us to survive financially in the seasons of life when we will no longer be able to prepare and gather financial resources, we must harvest those financial resources the right way at the right time. The sluggard, however, was content to spend the time that he should have been gathering, preparing and storing those resources being lazy and lethargic.

Solomon then reveals the slogan of the sluggard that reveals their lazy, lethargic, and reactive lifestyle: "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest ". I have time to kick back and relax. I will deal with that later”. The folding of hands is a gesture that demonstrates something isn’t it? I mean, when I fold my hands, what am I saying? I’m saying “I refuse; I am defiant.”

The sluggard’s attitude is “I refuse to do what I should be doing; instead I am going to kick back and take it easy”. Solomon is revealing the reality that the sluggard refuses and instead attempts to escape the responsibility that they have to save and invest for their future. Solomon then reveals the consequences that such decisions have for the sluggard in verse 11:

 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need

 like an armed man.

When Solomon uses the word poverty here, this word is not referring to lack of riches. Instead a person in poverty lacks the necessities of life. A vagabond literally refers to a shiftless wanderer who has no means of support, but instead panhandles. In our culture today, a homeless person would be a word picture of this type of person. Solomon’s point here is that just as the easiest victim for a vagabond is the lazy person who is asleep and lacks the diligence and vigilance to prepare for the future and protect what he has, the person who fails to save or invest for the future places themselves in a position where their laziness and lack of vigilance makes them an easy victim for poverty.

 

Solomon then hammers his point home with another word picture, this time of an armed man attacking a defenseless person. And just as an armed man is able to take away what one has by force, poverty that results from a lack of preparation takes away a person’s money, possessions, and treasure by force, not stealth.

At it is in this proverb that we see Solomon reveal for us a timeless principle when it comes to the issue of investing. And that timeless principle is this: When it comes to treasure, those who fail to plan for the future financially plan to fail financially in the future. Solomon wanted his son, and humanity throughout history, to clearly understand that there are seasons in our lives where we have the ability and opportunity to prepare financially for the seasons in our lives where will not have the ability or opportunity to do so.

Those who plan and prepare for the future by investing in short and long term savings demonstrate the wisdom, the developed skill for living life, that brings the positive result of being prepared for that future when it arrives. Those who fail to plan and prepare for the future by investing in short and long term savings reveal the reality that followed a faulty plan that resulted in them failing to be prepared financially for that future when it arrives.

Now, just as it was last week, you might be thinking “well Dave that is great; thanks for telling me this now, but where were you five years ago? And how am I supposed to invest anyways?” If that question is running through your mind, I have good news for you. And that good news is this: The Bible also provides some guiding principles when it comes to investing.

Friday, we will look at those guiding principles…