Walk on By

(Proverbs 24:30 KJV)  I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

Notice that the author “went by” (passed by NASB) (5674a).  Later it describes the dilapidated condition of the “field” (7704).  What is immediately clear is that the field belongs to someone who is lazy.  That is the meaning of “sluggard” (6102).  It was not run down because of poor soil, oppression, high taxes or bad weather.  It was because the farmer would not work.

Notice that there is no talk of helping him get the field up and running.  One of the points of Proverbs is that we suffer because of personal choices.  We are responsible for our own lives.  We are not supposed to sit around and wait for someone else to do our work for us.  The opposite side of that coin is that we are not to do things for people that they can do for themselves.  This is hard for people with the gifts of mercy and helps to understand.  They are so into helping that they don’t realize that they are hurting.

So?  Is it an emergency?  Be there.  Make a difference.  Is it sloth?  Walk on by.