Mensa Otabil - A Wise Person
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Proverbs chapter 10, verse 5: He who gathers in summer is a wise son; he who sleeps at harvest is a son who causes shame. The Book of Proverbs speaks to us very practically in our lives, and here it’s looking at our theme for this year, which is gathering. It is teaching us using the principles of agriculture, which was the predominant occupation in those days. Almost everybody was involved in one form of farming or another. It uses these very basic thoughts to teach us very important truths, discussing a wise son and a shameful son. It says, «He who gathers in summer is a wise son.»
Now, in the days of old, as it is now, there are seasons: the time for planting crops and the time for harvesting crops. They would plant very early in the year, probably around March, and by summer, they would have their crops. The summer season is a harvest season; harvesting is basically a season, but gathering is an activity-it’s something you do in a season. What the proverb is saying is that when God brings you an opportunity to do something, you must do what must be done.
So when it’s summertime, you must gather. Gathering is very hard work. In those days, gathering was actually more difficult and tedious than planting because one person can plant a field, but as you know, what we plant grows bigger and sprouts far more. So by the time you get into harvest, it takes more work, more intensity, and more labor. A lot of people need to come on board, and there are those who gather in summer. Interestingly, the summertime in that jurisdiction is a time when nothing grows; it’s dry, the sun is very hot, and you don’t sow in summer, but you harvest in summer.
So at the time when nothing is growing and nothing seems to be working, God gives us the opportunity to harvest what has already been accumulated. I believe that in many ways we are in the summer of our lives, in a world post-COVID and after all the hardships that we have gone through. Sometimes you can look at the season and say, «You know, there’s nothing to gather; there is nothing to do; there is no activity.» But in this hard time, there are fragments to be gathered. If you are a wise person, you go out and you gather in the season.
Then it talks about the son who sleeps at harvest time, and he causes shame. The season has come, but he’s not working. He’s tired; he probably feels this is the time to rejoice, this is the time just to be happy, and he’s not harvesting the crops that have been produced. It’s going to offer us some difficult situations. There are going to be some hardships; there are going to be some tough times. But in the midst of the hardship, we can still gather. In the midst of the difficulty, we can still gather. So don’t be like one of those people who says life is so hard that I’m not going to do anything about it. Be like those who say life is so hard, yet I’m still going to work harder to beat the circumstances of life.
In this season, we’re going to gather. We’re going to gather pieces; we’re going to gather the harvest; we’re going to gather the fragments. Whatever it is, we’re not going to be lazy sons who go to sleep; we’re going to be hard-working people who go and gather in the season. May the Lord give us the strength to bring in the harvest that He has provided for us. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, today I choose diligence over laziness. Give me strength to gather in Your blessing. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.