When God called Samuel to anoint David as future king he had to correct him because Samuel was looking at the outside appearance. Jesus similarly corrected his disciples about what defiles a person (Matthew 15:10-20) when he said “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

In the same way, Proverbs teaches us to look at the heart on economic issues.

We’re in the midst of a hot summer, and last evening my seven-year-old son came into dinner drenched from head to foot. I was surprised and asked him, “How did you get all wet?” Again to my surprise he replied, “I didn’t think I would get wet, I went under the sprinkler.”