Context Matters

Have you ever heard someone say, “As a man thinks, so is he” and wondered what it means? I have heard it many times and it did not make much sense to me especially when I looked at how it was interpreted. And there are times that I listen to a teaching and it just flies over my head. I do not understand it and I do not see how it flows with the rest of the Bible. I want us to look at that statement today and see where it is coming from and try to understand its context because context matters friends.

So, where does that statement come from? It comes from the King James Version which translated Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee”. But you can see that that is not the complete statement since it is starting with the conjunction ‘for’ which joins what was said and what is being said. The full context of that verse is this:

“Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words” [Proverbs 23:6-8, KJV] 

“Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words” [Proverbs 23:6-8, ESV].

Whenever you study the word of God and you do not have many resources, it would be good to read different translations of the Bible. You will get closer to the meaning when you do so. 

The context tells us what kind of a man this is already. He is said to ‘have an evil eye’ [KJV], ‘stingy’ [ESV, NLT] and is ‘inwardly calculating’ and thinking about the loss he has made in giving you food. It is not saying if you think positive then you will attract what you think about. That becomes an Eastern Religion belief where they believe in karma and the law of attraction. 

When interpreting Proverbs, we need to know that not everything said there is a command, many times we have general observations. For example, Proverbs 11:10 is not a command to rejoice when the wicked perish because the same word tells us not to rejoice when our enemies fall or stumble [Proverbs 24:17]. It is just stating what people generally do when the wicked fall. Certain verses are prescriptive and others are descriptive and we need to beware of that.

“As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” describes what kind of a heart one has and it means one who is calculating the cost. It is not a prescription to think positive so that you “receive” the things you think more about. This is wisdom being given to the simple not to desire a stingy person’s delicacies period. It is advise being given to make one wise [Psalm 19:7, Proverbs 21:11] and not indulge himself much when hosted by the wicked. 

Everything we receive as believers is a gift from God and it is a gift of grace not a gift of thinking. Everything we have comes from the grace of the Father [James 1:16-17, 1 Corinthians 4:7, Romans 6:23]. We do not become saved because we recited “I’m saved, I’m saved, I’m saved, over and over. One can do that as many times as he wishes but he will never be saved because salvation is a gift from God, initiated by Him and never by us or through our thoughts. You can think hard and say you are an airplane or a banana as many times as you wish but you will never be one. 

There are only two kinds of people on earth; the wicked and the righteous. You do not “think yourself out” to be righteous, you believe Jesus after you have heard the gospel and He imparts His righteousness upon you. What is needed after you have come to the Lord is to have a renewed mind. Know more of God’s word, read it, believe it, memorize and apply it. With that you will become more and more like Him. That is all we want to be. That is the greatest thing you can ever be. Context matters [pun intended].

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About The Author:

Pastor Sam Machacka is co-founder of Brink Ministries Southern Africa. A wonderful colleague and good friend. Equipping Pastors and Church leaders in Southern Africa. He grew up in, Zimbabwe with his beautiful wife Mildred and they are blessed with three lovely children namely Samantha, Munashe and Joshua but they are now serving as missionaries in Malawi since August 2018

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Email: thepassionatebeliever@gmail.com