Proverbs 14:22
Anyone
enjoy the “Oceans” 11, 12, 13 movies? The planning that goes into the big
heists is fun to watch, even though hipped by Hollywood. And with the recent
big stakes heist that took place in Cannes, France netting the thief about $136
million in jewels! Really big evil usually doesn’t happen without planning.
We
recognize this when someone murders another person. There are different degrees
of murder: First-degree murder – premeditated, Second-degree – intentional and
not premeditated, Third-degree – manslaughter (attack that ends in death
without intent to kill). Only First-degree involves planning. It gets the
harshest punishments because it involves planning.
But
planning can go into many different sinful acts. It is this premeditation that
is summed up in the word “plot” in our text today. The Hebrew carries the idea
of engraving or chiseling into stone. It takes time and effort to chisel stone.
If you want it to look good, you have to plan your carving. We reward that
planning by placing the best examples of chiseling in museums!
But
sinful acts aren’t the only acts that require planning. Righteous acts require
planning as well. The second half of this proverb states that planning is part
of good acts. It is the same word in Hebrew as in the first half. Planning and
plotting are the same original word. If you want to do really big good things,
you have to plan!
If
you want your life to count for something, to have a positive impact for the
Kingdom, then you need to live a life with purpose, a life that has some
planned, thoughtful direction and goals. I you aimless walk the life of faith,
then your impact will be limited.
The
Scriptures detail many objectives for those who want to follow Christ. The one
most often proclaimed is the Great Commission, “Go into all the world and
preach…”, but there are many other things we are to be doing. Many of those
things require us to plan.
If
we want to have the greatest impact on the poor in our communities, then we
will need to plan. Just handing out McDonald’s food vouchers to those standing
in traffic with a sign won’t make much impact. But perhaps joining forces with
others and addressing the underlying causes of poverty can make a difference.
But this takes time and planning.
If
you want to be a better parent, it takes planning and preparation. We must
count the cost and then invest.