I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction— Proverbs‬ 24:30–32‬ NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Who dash Monkey banana?

As I read this verse last week, the first thing that crossed my mind was, who gave him the field? Or in Nigerian lingo, “who dash monkey banana?” The person in this verse has been defined as lazy, a man likely to have been unfaithful in another man’s, so who gave him his own? (See Luke 16:12). As I pondered on this verse, I received instruction — not that which followed in verse 33, but a reminder of a spiritual principle, which I would also bring to your relevance today; everyone gets something.

One would expect a farmer to know what type of soil to plant on for maximum returns or, at the very least, bare minimum returns. Imagine you see a farmer attempting to plant corn seeds on a tarmac! But in the parable of the sower, we see grounds acknowledged as stony, receiving seed! And from a human perspective, we may think “what a foolish waste”.

The parable of talents as written in Matthew 25 demonstrates this as well. While the phrase “each according to his ability”, which determined how many talents each servant got, could be indicative of the latent industrious capacity in the person who received one, it could as well be that this servant was not even deserving/capable of receiving said one! From the performance of the first two servants, it’s more likely to have been a distribution based on each servant’s actual capacities. If we were to use their performance as a yardstick for their “abilities”, then we find that he who was given five could manage five; he who was given two could manage two, but he who was given one could not manage one and was deserving of nothing!

It may be interesting to note, that both parables were parables that explained the mysteries of the Kingdom Of God.

You get what He gives, not necessarily what you deserve

For starters, you get what He gives, not necessarily what you deserve — and He gives freely, so everybody gets something, “deserving” or “not”. He causes the sun to shine on both the good and evil (Matt 5:45), He makes Himself known to all and sundry (Rom 1:18–20)

Everyone gets something, but not everyone uses it, leverages it. Everyone is given something, but not everyone is faithful to sweat it out. Everyone is given something regardless of how apparent “lack” appears, regardless of the thousand and one cogent reasons one may have for not making the most of it, or the “valid reasons” for discounting that which you’ve been given, the fact remains; everyone is given something — so that no one is with an excuse. The acknowledgement and resulting use of what He gives is what determines your “deserving of more”.

For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. — Matthew‬ 25:29‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Then He said to them, Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. — Mark‬ 4:24–25‬ NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Don’t Know What You Got, Till It’s Gone

While it is common knowledge that human needs are insatiable, with increasing preference for additions; something more, something new, the human mind is also prone to the loss aversion bias. The loss aversion bias is the observation that human beings experience losses more severely than equivalent gains, i.e. we tend to be more motivated to avoid losing an urgent 2k, than motivated to gain an urgent 2k.

Leveraging this thought in closing, what’s that you have in your hand? What’s that which you have heard? Don’t wait to lose it, to appreciate it. And when you know you have something, don’t rest on your oars, leaving it fallow, thinking you’d never lose it. Know (recognize and work out, i.e. ginosko) what you’ve got before it’s gone. Lazy men had vineyards too.

A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty (i.e. lack) come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man. — Proverbs‬ 24:33–34‬ NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Itoro Nehemiah

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