11He who loves purity of heart and gracious speech will be a friend to the king.
12The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the faithless.
13The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside in the middle of the street; I will be killed!”
14The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit; he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it.
15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will drive it out of him.
16He who oppresses the poor to increase to himself, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
It is lazy to be paralyzed with fear (13). The Teacher literally describes someone that might seem familiar in our current pandemic: the person so afraid to go outside the house that they are pretty much paralyzed in place. They are afraid of something that MIGHT happen (but statistically is not likely), and so they remain in stasis, rather than go and do the things that God has said. This, in the Teacher’s eyes, is a form of sloth—laziness. There is a reason that we are commanded so many times to not fear in scripture: not only is it a major temptation because it is a human tendency…..it literally gets in the way of God’s will for your life. Don’t be afraid today. He has commanded it, after all.
