Time, Place, Participants

(Proverbs 7:18 KJV)  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

Years ago, as a teenager, I was spending the night in someone else’s home.  I can’t remember how it all worked out but I observed one of the residents open the refrigerator, take out a bottle of milk and take a long drink, then put the bottle back on the shelf.  To be honest, I have done the same thing myself but I have never done it in a house full of people who might be accessing milk from that same bottle.  What might be a simple matter of laziness for a bachelor living alone becomes a health issue when you have a house full of people.

That is the situation here.  If this were a dialogue between a woman and her husband, yeah team.  It would be a wholesome, positive invitation.  It isn’t.  This is an invitation to step outside the bounds of God’s providential blessings and turn a great good into a great evil.  This is an invitation to sin based on time and participants.

So?  Will your day be full of blessings or perversions?  Often the difference is the choices we make. 

Half a Loafer

(Proverbs 6:10 KJV)  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

Life throws us curve balls.  Some of them are extreme.  Most are subtle and sneak up on us.  Why is it that we have heard more about things like demon possession in third world countries than we have in America or Europe?  Part of it is that Satan knows that it is easier to swell the roster of Hell by slow seduction and sloth than by frontal attacks.  We recently heard about another family man who was doing well on TV and got involved in an affair on the side.  I don’t know how it is going to work out in his life but he has ruined what he had.  I don’t think he left home every morning saying, “I wonder what I can do to ruin my life?”  It snuck up on him one little decision at a time.

So?  Sometimes compromise is necessary.  Half a loaf is better than none unless the cost of the half loaf is your family now and your eternity later. 

Wisdom Is Not for Storage

(Proverbs 5:2 KJV)  That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

Wisdom is meant to be applied, not worshiped.  It is not that bottle of fine wine that is 100 years old and worth a fortune.  It is the daily vitamin that is taken regularly in order to supplement the rest of life.  Wisdom is for living, not for storage.  I think it might be something like vitamin C.  You can’t put it in reserve for a rainy day and call upon it when needed.  It isn’t like fat. 

That is why it is so important to practice the disciplines of worship, prayer, mediation and study.

So?  Miss you vitamin pill for one day and no one notices.  If you are eating properly you could probably miss it every day but that is because your life style provides it along the way.

Choice Cuts

(Proverbs 4:14 KJV)  Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

Following Jesus and coming to eternity is a series of choices.  It is my theory that those choices start long before we are aware of the truth of the gospel.  This is not a doctrinal statement.  It is my way of trying to understand why so many people do not respond to the gospel.  Grace begins working in our lives before we are able to read a Bible or understand a sermon.  There is something in our hearts that responds to the call of God.  When we are children the Holy Spirit nudges and whispers.  We either respond or reject.  The process continues and we either get more calloused or more tender.

When we hear the gospel we are at a place that is the result of many branches in our lives.  I think that is why some are ready and some never will be.

Verses like this say to me that we continue making choices.  It is important that we continue to resist the “path” (734) of the “wicked” (7563).

So?  Yes, it makes a difference how you live your life today.  Whether you are a Calvinist or an Arminian, there are consequences for disobedience. 

Necklace of Grace

(Proverbs 3:22 KJV)  So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

I think the NASB really misses it on this one.  Where the KJV has “grace” (2580) the NASB has “adornment”.  This is the only place the NASB translates it this way.  It us usually “favor”.  This is a familiar term.

(Genesis 6:8 KJV)  But Noah found grace (2580) in the eyes of the LORD.

The wisdom of Proverbs is not just a bauble that makes your neck look good.  It is the favor of Almighty God that helps your neck turn your eyes in the right direction.  It is grace that helps you bend a stubborn part of your body in submission to God and in dealing with your fellow man.

So?  Wisdom does not make you the smartest kid on the block.  Okay, maybe it makes you functionally the most smart, but the purpose is to make you the most righteous you can be.  It is not a beauty contest.  It is a preparation for eternity.  The necklace of grace is more than a sparkly.

Transparency

(Proverbs 2:22 KJV)  But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

As I was looking at the first part of this verse I came across a comment by Adam Clarke on the “transgressors” (treacherous NASB) (898).  He likens it to the Greek word “hypocrite” which was a term for actors who put on costumes to represent a character.  With that I am warned about being a hypocrite and also about the presence of hypocrites in the church.

This is a difficult issue.  On one level we are told not to judge.  We are told that we are not supposed to try to remove the tares from the wheat.  We are commanded not to seek revenge.  So the understanding we have is not to go on a witch hunt.  It is also an announcement to those who are acting out their spiritual lives that God is not fooled nor amused.  The insincere will be dealt with.

So?  This is for me and you, not for them.  It is a chance for us to look at our own hearts and commitments.  Rejoice in a God who keeps working with us. 

There Are Two Types of People...

(Proverbs 1:16 KJV)  For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

We have a way of dividing up groups according to our personal preferences.  On theme after theme there are two types of people, those who agree with us and those who don’t.  Our divisions are rather selfish and capricious.  God has also divided the world into two types of people.  Those who serve Him and those who refuse.  Of course each has many sub-groups and this verse reminds us of one we don’t want to recognize.

We are aware that most people do not serve Jesus.  The frustration we have is that so many of them seem to be really wonderful people.  Because they refuse to bow their knee to Jesus they are still passive servants of Satan.  That is not the group being described here.  The people being referred to here are actively seeking to do and be evil.  They may still think they are just out for themselves but they are very focused on advancing the agenda of the anti-Christ.

So?  Remind yourself that they exist.  Yes, there are people who are out to get you simply because you are a follower of Christ.  Be alert.