Proverbs 17:2
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A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
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But Solomon knew better. Servants, and even sons, are held back for being lazy, stupid, disrespectful, or slow. Color, age, sex, creed, or nationality has nothing to do with it.
How important is wisdom? Wisdom brings promotion and honour - foolishness brings demotion and shame (3:35; 4:8; 12:8). Diligence brings advancement; slothfulness starvation (12:24; 20:4; 22:29). A man not progressing in his profession is foolish, slothful, disrespectful, or slow. Mark it!
A wise servant will be promoted over a foolish son. Consider. The son has the inside track and his father's heart. But an employer cares for one thing - performance! Thank you, Preacher! They do not care about age, color, sex, creed, or nationality. They care about productivity, punctuality, integrity, obedience. They resent foolish and lazy sons.
And not only will a wise servant be promoted over a son, he will be given an inheritance with the man's own sons - maybe an ownership interest in the family business!
A hard working servant will blow right past a lazy son (10:5). Even kings will promote such men (14:35). Discrimination is just the lying excuse of foolish, lazy, slow bellies! Wise men resent bellyaching sluggards, who blame their circumstances rather than their foolishness and poor performance. They are looking for men who will get the job done!
When Solomon saw Jeroboam's industry, he promoted him highly (I Kings 11:28); and a few years later he was the king of Israel's ten tribes, and Solomon's son had only two!
Success in our prosperous, generous, and slothful age is easy for a Christian. It hangs like a ripe plum from a tree. With a ladder named wisdom, it is within easy reach of all! Dear reader, climb and take it. Don't make excuses; don't blame others; use the ladder!
Orientals often come to America with hardly anything and make prosperous lives. They don't complain, riot, sue, or talk of discrimination. They work diligently, live frugally, save faithfully, adapt wisely, and exist peacefully. But others with greater advantages go nowhere. What is the difference? Without knowing God, they practice natural wisdom.
Joseph was a young foreign slave with the resume of a shepherd, which the Egyptians despised (Gen 46:34). But the Lord blessed his faithfulness with great authority in Potiphar's house (Gen 39:1-6). Daniel was a captive eunuch, but look where he went!
David conducted himself wisely and the nation loved him (I Sam 18:30). What was his background? He was a shepherd from the lowly town of Bethlehem, ignored by his own family when they were considering sons for honor. Let God be true!
What is the source of success in our proverb? Wisdom! It is the quality that embodies all the instruction of this book. A black, female, Hispanic Muslim from Sri Lanka with a lisp and a limp can get ahead easily, if she were to practice the wisdom of Proverbs. But if not, the fool will always be serving a wise man (11:29)! Which will you be, reader?
A poor child can be promoted past an old king for one reason - wisdom (Eccl 4:13). The king resents being admonished, so he resents correction. The poor child has no problem being told what to do. That young man is going somewhere! The king nowhere!
What is diligence? It is working hard and fast without let up. Simple enough, isn't it? Diligence looks for the next job, attacks it, and finishes it without complaining or resting. It doesn't think about lunch all morning and quitting time all afternoon. It seeks to do the best job it can, as quickly as it can, until the whole job is finished perfectly.
Jesus taught this doctrine Himself regarding spiritual things for His disciples and apostles (Luke 12:35-48). Those servants being diligent during a master's absence would be promoted to rule over all that he owned! But those who slacked off would be fired and thrown out with the liars! Let every saint and servant consider well the high standard to which we are called. Labor is not in vain in the Lord!
Multiply your privileges in the kingdom of heaven and receive His blessing, rather than complaining that He is too hard and discriminates (Matt 25:14-30). Jesus condemned that wicked and slothful servant, stripped him of his single talent, and cast him into outer darkness where he could gnash his teeth and wail about his misery! And He gave the talent to the man with ten. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, by wisdom!
Christian employees should be the very best in the workplace (Rom 12:11; Col 3:22-25; I Thess 4:11-12; I Tim 6:1-2; Tit 2:9-10). For outstanding conduct on the job adorns the doctrine of God our Saviour and saves our religion from blasphemy far more than words.
Our Lord Jesus was made a little lower than the angels. But He so wisely and faithfully finished the most difficult work ever assigned, He was promoted far above all of them! He never slacked off nor became discouraged, and He rules today over all. Glory!
Foolish and lazy men must blame something for slow career progress, so they often use discrimination. They cannot get ahead because they are black, old, female, Hispanic, white, young, male, pierced, purple, or Muslim. If you have not heard it, they will invent it. They love to blame the great enemy discrimination.
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