Proverbs 20:1-4 – Four vices we should not cultivate

A vice in life always seems pleasurable when one is indulging in it. Remember, it will not appear as a vice even after one has felt its negative effect. It may not even be realized until after one has been practicing it for many years and even for life. It is a vice because a person indulging in one is often oblivious to its harm. Proverbs 20:1-4 identify four vices we are to avoid.

Proverbs 20:1 discourages us from the vice of binging excessively over alcohol. A victim of alcoholism often realizes the harm too late. It can turn a gentle person into a brawler and causes him to behave at a level beneath that of a beast. At that drunken moment, the drunkard surrenders his reason to lust and to all kinds of undesirable appetite. He will only realize after he had sobered up, and the influence of alcohol over his drunken stupor had worn off. A drunkard has been known for abusing his wife and children. The second part of verse 1 insists that whoever is led astray by it is not wise. Always bear in mind that we human beings bear the greatest resemble to the image of God. When we are under the influence of alcohol we denigrate that image, and live below the dignity our image demands. The bane of it all is that when he becomes sober after being led astray and mocked, the alcoholic would go seeking it again. Perhaps that’s the reason Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:18 saying, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation….”

Proverbs 20:2 discourages us from indulging in rebelling against God’s ordained authority. In the New testament we have seen how believers had been called to submit to governmental authority, stating that they are ordained of God. It is to one’s peril to go against a God ordained government. The context when this proverb was written was monarchy and it is wrong to go against a king that God had approved and appointed. In our context it would be wrong to rebel against a constitutionally elected sound government. We do not resist the authority without jeopardizing and endangering our well-being. Wisdom dictates that we be good and orderly citizens.

Proverbs 20:3 discourages us from indulging in needless striving. A sensible person refuses to be drawn into an-uncalled-for quarrel or argument with an unreasonable person. When we walk away from such a person, we avoid his needless insults and injuries. A person lacking sense would take that person on, and end up in reckless controversy and hurting himself and his family.

Proverbs 20:4 discourages us from indulging in a life of laziness. Different seasons of life are ordained for different purposes. When we refuse to seize the moment and achieve the purpose of that season, our passivity will cause our ineffectiveness. So, Verse 4 says, “The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, so he begs during the harvest and has nothing.” To neglect God’s appointed moment, either through procrastination or laziness, only leads to despair and ruin. We must seize every opportunity and do what Paul in Ephesians 5:16 has exhorted us to do. “Redeem the time, or opportunity, for the days are evil.”