I didn’t post yesterday for our study on Proverbs 6, so I thought I’d combine the two chapters today. If you remember our study on Proverbs 5, you’ll know that these two chapters go hand in hand. Let’s catch up together, shall we?
Chapter 6 is filled with warnings from the father to the son. Again, we see this urgent monologue from this loving father, desperate for his son to choose wise paths. In chapter 6, the father gets specific about four different areas of our lives that need wisdom to rule and reign over them.
#1—Debt.
The father says to simply avoid it at all costs. Don’t allow yourself to become a slave to debt, to owing someone else what you cannot pay. Just don’t go there. But, if you do go there, he begs the son to exhaust himself to get out of it, no matter what it takes. Because debt will enslave you. So, choose wisdom instead and avoid this dangerous path.
#2—Laziness.
Work hard, and then play hard. We get these two mixed up all too often and put them out of order. God wants us to enjoy life, but there is responsibility on our part to avoid laziness and apathy. Everything that we do (and don’t do) serves as a reflection of God to a watching world. Christians should be the hardest workers in the workplace. Are we? Choose wisdom here. Let wisdom rule and reign in this area of your life.
#3—Gossip.
Slander. Malicious talk. Gossip. It’s evil speech. It’s divisive. It’s sin. It is unfitting for a follower of Jesus Christ. We need to start calling it what it is. And it’s a trap for those who partake in it. It destroys not only our hearts, but also the heart and mind of the recipient of our evil words. Choose wisdom here.
#4—Lust.
We’re back to the adulterous woman, the forbidden woman. Let’s make something clear here. These warnings are not gender specific. They are for all people. Avoid the trap of lust. Avoid adultery, which both men and women stumble into, and avoid it in all of its forms. Scripture could have said, “the forbidden man,” and it would have been equally appropriate. Don’t desire what isn’t yours to take. It will destroy you. It will take you down with it. Choose wisdom in this.
If those warnings weren’t enough, the father finishes his speeches to the son with Proverbs 7: One last, urgent plea to the son to steer clear of the adulterous woman. God knew how much our hearts would be bent toward this sin, so He, in His wisdom, included much within Scripture about the folly of pursuing after it. This type of sin, sexual sin, is unique in a way that it is a sin which we commit against our own body. I can’t help but think about how much joy the enemy has when he successfully lures us into this trap because it is perhaps his closest attempt to assault Jesus Himself because Christ indwells the believer.
Did you catch that? Satan doesn’t stand a chance against Jesus, so instead, he shoots his fiery arrows at Jesus’ kids. Don’t let him. Don’t allow those arrows to penetrate you. Raise your shield of faith, resist temptation, stand firm, and walk in wisdom. There is so much to benefit from a wise walk, but so much to lose from a lack there of. Let wisdom rule and reign in these areas of your life today.
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