Haughty eyes and a proud heart—
the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin. Proverbs 21:4 NIV
Three men walk into a bar. One has haughty eyes, the other a proud heart and the last guy embodies the unplowed field of a wicked life. The bartender asks the guys “what’ll you have?”.
Haughty Eyes tilts his head back and looks down his nose at the bartender. He is slightly insulted that the bartender thought that he was friends with the other two guys. He notices that the glass that is about to be used is dirty and the bartender himself is quite unkempt. He surveys the room and determines that no one is of the high caliber of which he views himself. All of these thoughts flashed through his mind, not a word was spoken of how he truly felt, just a hard stare of disdain was thrown at the bartender. “I’ll have a martini”.
Proud Hearted man had not stopped talking from the moment that he entered the bar. He was a little frustrated that he had to use some verbs and adjectives to add to his favorite stories involving me, mine, and I. No matter what subject was mentioned, he had a personal perspective which took quite some time to unfold. He talked of owning a soap box which allowed him to stand a head taller than everyone else around. In fact, he just happened to be carry it with him, and he laid it on the floor in front of him. He stepped onto the box and addressed the bartender with another quick story of all his accomplishments and how nobody ever got the advantage on him. “I’ll have some bourbon.”
Unplowed Field was oblivious to any wrongdoing or expressions of his companions at the bar and he liked it that way. Who was he to create a standard of good or bad, right or wrong? His motto for living was “not too hot and not too cold”. Besides, people telling others how to live just made people feel bad. Once, someone told him that he should have shared his bag of candy, he felt bad for a moment which meant nothing now, because the people had left with whom he was to share the candy. He avoided words like “shoulda, ought to, responsibility, ownership, guilt, sharing or even loving others and especially personal conviction.” His laissez faire attitude helped him to avoid all conversations that might include some level of introspection. “I’ll have whiskey”.
The bartender took out three glasses and poured in the sourest bitter vinegar. Each man drank his glass. Haughty Eyes said, “It was okay, I didn’t expect much from you anyway. Proud Heart said, “Did I ever tell you about my trip out west and the drinks we had?” Unplowed Field said, “I’ll have another glass.”
God’s word is unique in the way that it penetrates into our souls. Hebrews 4 says that nothing (no action or thought) remains hidden before God. Invite the Holy Spirit to use His word daily to plow up the hard and hidden selfish areas of your life. You may have to drink something that taste a little bitter, but you will be sure not to order it again. Of course, that assumes you are pursuing a humble and contrite heart before the Lord.
Blessings Love y’all