The Field

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

Proverbs 24:31  And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. 

Proverbs 24:32  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. 

Proverbs 24:33 [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

Proverbs 24:34 So shall thy poverty come [as] one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

As we read these verses we quickly see and understand what is being said. We then move on to the next verses, but did we miss something in the process? If you have spent any time at all in the book of Proverbs you will remember reading earlier about a little sleep and folding of the hands and how that poverty is sure to follow.

Proverbs 6:10 [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

Proverbs 6:11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. After reading both sets of verses did you notice the endings of verse 34 and verse 11 "as an armed man." So great and wise a man as Solomon received instruction from the field and of the slothful and foolish man. The teaching is in the field; learn what happens in the field. There should be just a little sleep; not a lot. There should only be just a little folding of the hands; not much and then just a little dozing and nodding; not much. Poverty will come; not all at once. A little drug use, a little alcohol use, a little viewing on the Internet, a little anger, a little look, a little desire, a little lust, a little pride, a little greed.

Proverbs 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.

Proverbs 23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Because of the little and the not paying attention, because you think you have it all under control you lose as if you were held up by an armed man. When in reality we allow it to happen to us and we did nothing to stop it. Do nothing and we will be over taken, not all at once; a little at a time. Then the same is true in reverse. The mental picture is a field that was once kept neat, nice and clean but because the owner slowly stops attending to it, it was eventually over taken. Today if we will start work little by little with God’s help we can restore the years that the locust has eaten.

Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

In HIM we have help without HIM we are held up! 

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.

Not all at once a little at a time!