Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth (Proverbs 27:1).

This carries a similar teaching to one from James:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil (James 4:13-16).

In my short life there have been many occasions to prove this principle. I expected one thing only to experience something different. There are occasions, where I expected gain but suffered loss. I expected little but found an abundance. 

For example, I expected a little gain from investing in Apple some years ago, but God gave me a large return. I planned to teach a small, free TaeKwonDo class at First Baptist Dallas, where I could instruct my daughter with other homeschoolers, but God brought many students and even allowed me to have a small income from it.

On the flip side, I expected a larger Classical Conversations group at First Baptist Dallas this year compared to the past year, but it is now looking like it will be even smaller. Last year, I expected to profit from investing in Chipotle, which had gone down a lot, but after I invested, it went down even further. 

I did not expect my mom would get stage-4 brain cancer. I did not expect that God would provide such a great cadre of leaders for my TaeKwonDo class at First Baptist Dallas. I did not expect a couple of the most loyal and honorable masters in the martial arts organization to leave, and in such a dishonorable way. I did not expect a beaten-down leader in the same organization to suddenly have the largest growth of students in the organization. I did not expect God to bless a Men's Bible study of just a handful to grow to a consistent room-full of men with such marvelous willingness to lead and teach. 

Every morning I pray with anticipation. What will God do today? I pray only that I might be faithful to follow His lead. Whether God allows me to follow the folly of Rehoboam or leads me in the wisdom of David, I know that God's purposes will be accomplished. It is my place to simply humble myself, meditate on His Word, and cling to His grace, wisdom and providence. 

Dear friends, this is my counsel to you. Don't boast about tomorrow, for today's success may turn bad tomorrow, or today's failure may become better tomorrow. You just don't know. Instead of boasting, it is better to trust and honor the Lord. It is better to recognize His sovereignty and your dependence upon Him for everything. If you have no definite expectations for your tomorrows, you will be neither proud nor dejected. You can rejoice in God whether the outcome is "good" or "bad," because you know He is in control and will work everything together for your good in the end. 

I am not preaching stoicism but perspective. I am encouraging everyone to rejoice in God rather than in His here-and-now benefits, which may or may not be forthcoming on any given day. We can rejoice in every circumstance on earth because of God's eternal promises to us of His enduring presence, peace, love, hope and joy in heaven. 

Evil men do not understand justice,
But those who seek the Lord understand all things (Proverbs 28:5).

What remarkable proverb? The Proverbs are full of sayings about gaining knowledge, understanding, wisdom, insight, discernment, prudence, etc. All of these things are measured out according to a corresponding attitude or behavior. But here we have an all-encompassing declaration: "Those who seek the Lord understand all things".

It does not simply say a few things or even some things. It says ALL things. Why even mess with understanding that is measured out piece meal for this or that attitude or behavior? If you seek God, you can understand all of it. You don't have to worry about being lacking in this attitude or failing in that activity. You won't have the uncertainty of only understanding in part of something and not the whole. You will understand all things, and as my theology professor once told me, "All means all and that's all all means." 

Friends, Solomon has already declared that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, understanding and wisdom (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). The fact that seeking the Lord brings all understanding simply completes the picture, namely, that the fear of God, seeking God, is the beginning, middle, and end of all wisdom. It is of central importance, without which there is no wisdom, understanding or true knowledge, yet with which one would be wiser than the wisest among those without it. 

This is why I emphasize that meditation on Scripture is of chief importance. It should be the priority to work, ministry, family, and every other priority. Through the Word, we know God and we find His complete guidebook for how we ought to live to please Him (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

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He who tills his land will have plenty of food,
But he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.
(Proverbs 28:19).

The proverb counsels diligence to do reliable work. It's reliable because your experience has taught you that if you work x, you will get y. What is reliable is weighed against what is "empty" or what will not provide sustenance. You may enjoy x, but if you neglect reliable work, you will quickly be poor and hungry. Then what enjoyment will you find in anything? 

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A faithful man will abound with blessings,
But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished (Proverbs 28:20). 

Since haste for riches stands in contrast to "a faithful man" and results in punishment, it is to be understand that haste for riches implies unfaithfulness and sin. In other words, a rush to obtain wealth is always accompanied by wrong attitudes or actions, such that a faithful man will never be hasty to be rich. "Blessings" for the faithful are not simply the fruit of labor but a gift from God. Those who refuse to be hasty for wealth and who choose to faithfully follow God's priorities and principles will be blessed by God. Theirs will not simply be the outcome of effort or chance. 

Friends, this should be a warning for all of us. Are we seeking our own benefit or the blessing from the Lord, whether in this life or the next? Are we following worldly methods to speed our wealth creation, all the while neglecting God's priorities and principles for serving, stewardship, and generosity? 

Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens (Proverbs 27:23-27).

This passage of Proverbs simply teaches us the importance of taking care of business. It does not matter whether you are rich or poor, middle class or otherwise. The principle applies to everyone.

For example, I remember reading Donald Trump's Art of the Deal some years ago. In this book he recounts that at one point he was nearly a billion dollars in debt, an outcome precipitated by the real estate bust of the 90's. He recounts that he was informed of this news while he was enjoying himself at a cocktail party in Paris. And he realized that he had taken his eye off of his business, and he was about to lose everything. 

Laziness, neglect, and the misappropriation of attention are what this passage warns against. If you neglect your work, insignificant issues will suddenly become insurmountable problems. If you neglect your home, you will be amazed how quickly it will become dirty and decrepit. If you neglect your family, you may be left wondering why your children seem unconcerned about their faith and making all kinds of wrong decisions in their young adulthood. If you neglect your health, you will suddenly find yourself overweight and popping pills to simply stay alive.

In business it is easiest to see. Consider a great company like Microsoft, the once king of computing, but now it can't seem to do anything right. Some say that Microsoft got lazy with its success and lost sight of its innovative edge. It allowed Google to to overtake the search engine, and then the browser. It allowed Apple to beat it in mobile audio, then mobile telephony, and then mobile computing altogether. 

It does not take much for the rich to suddenly become poor. Even the lottery is no guarantee of success, for it is reported that many winners became worse off after winning the lottery. Consider these tragic accounts of seventeen winners of the lottery: http://www.businessinsider.com/17-lottery-winners-who-blew-it-all-2013-5?op=1

Proverbs teaches that there is wisdom in being mindful and responsible in your work. Just as neglect can have a compounding negative effect, wise attention and management of your affairs can have a compounding positive effect. Taking care of their flocks would not only ensure their wealth and productivity, it would also ensure them of food, clothing, and even sustenance for their servants.

Let me bring another example that demonstrates this truth. Many people only pay the minimum for their credit card bill every month. In so doing they incur interest charges. What is more, if they ever miss a payment or come short, even once, they then incur really large penalties on top of this interest. What is more, these payments compound into ever larger payments over time. What is more the individual's credit score is drastically affected. Credit card debt has been the source of many debtors' nightmares.

On the other hand, those that responsibly pay off their credit card debts each month enjoy these advantages. They have no lingering debt or interest payments or penalties. They can put this money toward investments that can give them a compound return. They build and maintain stellar credit so that they always get the best rates on loans, whether for a car or a home. They do not have the anxiety of being a slave to their lenders. They are free to spend, save and give charitably to others. 

Friends, as simple as this Proverbial truth may sound, most Americans fail to follow its wisdom. In 2013 the average American household carries $15,325 in just credit card debt (source: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/). This is not being responsible.

The government is no better. We are nearly $17 trillion dollars in debt, increasing at an average of $2.3 billion dollars a day. But it goes to reason that irresponsible citizens will elect irresponsible leaders into office. 

Let us return to the wisdom of God's Word and live sensibly in this brief time we are given on this earth. 

The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions. (Proverbs 28:1 NLT)

Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back. (Proverbs 29:11 NLT)

After chapter nine of Proverbs, the book seems all over the map in its topics, addressing a different issue every two or three verses. At the same time, there are themes that are repeated throughout the book. Why not gather all these same-topic verses together? Many have written books doing just that. However, since the ordering of these proverbs are just as inspired as the proverbs themselves, I wanted to investigate the reason or reasons for such a seemingly haphazzard ordering of the proverbs following chapter nine. 

One thing happened to me as I read Proverbs 28 and Proverbs 29. When I read about the boldness of the wise ("as bold as lions") in Proverbs 28:1, I thought this meant a fearlessness to do and speak one's mind despite opposition. After several other unrelated matters, I came to Proverbs 29:11, which spoke of the wise holding back speech and actions, particularly angry speech and actions. It caused me to return to the first verse and reflect some more on this matter of the boldness of the wise. It is not to be without restraint. 

Now, I may have discerned this even if these two verses were presented one right after the other; however, the separation gave me time for reflection on one and then the other. It also gave me a greater sense of discovery when I linked the two thoughts together. And with so many disparate verses in between, it made me question whether these verses were actually related, so that I became even more thoughtful. The fact that everything was not just spelled out for me to see immediately and easily helped me to appreciate, value and discern the truths presented more deeply than I would have otherwise. 

Friends, I share this because some of you may feel a bit frustrated with the Book of Proverbs after chapter nine. You are confronted with so many different thoughts, it's hard to keep your mind focused. Many proverbs themselves are already like riddles, yet even more is demanded of us in discerning nuggets of truth in the maze presented before us. But I hope you can understand that this was done on purpose. The Proverbs were not written simply to inform on certain topics but to engage, disturb, challenge, and finally enlighten our minds. And the greater the effort we put forward to discern, the greater the benefit we will gain. At the same time, little effort may prove dangerous, because we may only discern half-truths and partial insights, where the missing pieces prove critical. 

This is the reason I also encourage more reading rather than less reading. Over time, you should read more Bible per sitting than less. Also, in memorizing Scripture, you ought to learn to memorize larger tracts of text rather than simply individual verses or paragraphs. I heard in Sri Lanka the pastors there have to memorize the entire New Testament before they can be ordained. We should require this of pastors here in the States. This would do more to ensure enlightened preaching than many years of seminary training. 

But we all have this responsibility. Let us not take it lightly. I hope this sharing will encourage you not to breeze through the Proverbs but to read, reread, and read again, as you meditate and correlate the proverbs one with another. Then I am confident you will discern wisdom and the fear of the Lord:

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:2-5 NLT)