12 A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
Proverbs 6:12-15
Brothers,
You ever met one of those guys whose wink is more reliable than his handshake? Maybe he's well known, but not well respected? In this scripture Solomon warns his son about "a worthless person." He describes how this "worthless person" goes about his business, "winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;" there is a lot of near eastern context to "winking, foot signals, points with finger" but we can quickly understand what "perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord" means. I see one of two ways we could read this proverb. 1. "We know a guy" 2. I am that guy!
"Know a guy"
It's easy to read this kind of thing and think about someone we know, but it's hard to know what to do with them. The easy thing (Sometimes it's the right thing) would be to dismiss or have nothing to do with a guy like this. Now I would say you don't want to enter any business agreements with a guy who is continually sowing discord. But, how to you have a relationship with someone like this? One word answer, "boundaries." Here's what we know about guys like this "calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing." When we know someone who is inclined to calamity because of the nature of their life we need boundaries so that our lives are not affected by their way of living.
I am that guy.
Maybe you're having a sobering moment and you're realizing you've been this guy or are currently this guy. Brother, there is hope for you. Realizing you're more of a "wink and a nod" guy than a man of your word is tough, but not hopeless, because in the Gospel you can become a man of your word. Crooked speech, winks, nods, perverted ways of living come natural to all of us men, but, when we surrender to Jesus we become a new creation, we become men who say the truth, no matter the cost and can be dependable. Not men that people wonder whether we are making shady promises, but steadfast truth tellers. One might call that WORTHWHILE!
Stay faithful brothers.