Solomon's important sequel to the appeal found in chapter 1 of Proverbs occurs in chapter 24.
How do they do it? Strip the net time after time from half court, and any basketball-star want-a-be will say, "How does he or she do it?" That's how chapter 24 starts out. But it deals with the topic of envy. Generally we admire someone who excels in sports because of the self discipline athletics involves. But envy does not include admiration. The drug dealer has money; we don't admire, or perhaps even like him, but if he has money, people will ask the question, "How does he do that?"
Here are the verses (my paraphrase)
Don't envy evil people,
And don't desire to be with them,
For in their minds they devise violence,
And with their lips, they talk about making trouble.
Now, in Hebrew poetry, there is a rhyming of ideas. We should see "envy" connect to devising violence; we should see "with them" connect to making trouble.
If we just ask the question about how someone makes illegal money, we might not get into trouble. But when we try to answer that question, that's when we become their disciple. And as their disciples, we will learn how to come up with a plan to make money illegally. But that's where fathers come in.
Fathers have to be alert to point out people who are both successful and are admirable. Fathers take their kids to see great athletes and musicians perform. They go to museums where past achievements in science and industry are displayed. Even at amusement parks, fathers can point out the engineering feats involved in holding up a roller coaster.
Solomon's next point is about talk. When a kid comes up on a group of friends, he talks about what they are talking about. If it's sports, he talks about Friday night's game. If it's about school, he talks about something funny that happened in class. If it's about making trouble, he talks about making trouble. And when a group of teens talks about making trouble, serious trouble happens.
Fathers can help their children avoid serious trouble by knowing when to leave, that is, when the talk turns to trouble. Fathers can help their sons and daughters have the self confidence and courage necessary to walk away before the trouble starts and before it's too late.
The next section of Proverbs chapter 24 talks about how wisdom enables one to build a house, establish home, and fill the home with wonderful things. What we fill our homes with are the stepping stones to what we do outside the home--prepare for a career, visit far away places, meet people who are shaping our world.
The current housing disaster shows how people tried to buy houses they couldn't pay for. They didn't foresee the risks, and didn't prepare adequately by paring down other debt. They looked at homes that were out of their price range. Wisdom cures that. People like Dave Ramsey and other financial gurus increase our financial literacy. Some of them work closely with couples over a period of months to get on a budget, reign in their spending, and ultimately qualify for the best loans, not the sub-prime loads that got everyone, including Wall Street billionaires, in trouble.
People build homes and then can't live together in harmony. Jesus helps us with that--turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, forgiveness--all skills necessary to establish a home.
Finally, Solomon shows how wisdom increases the resources we have. He uses the example of war, where a superior strategy, and a multitude of advisers, can make a smaller army equal to a much larger army in winning a conflict. There is safety in a superior strategy.
All of this is in contrast to the strategy of the drug dealer, which will lead a young person to prison or death. If you would fill your home with wonderful things, do it legally. You can do it legally with a superior strategy (wisdom) and hard work. This is how most of the world operates. This is the message fathers have to communicate to their children.
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