bible study

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Proverbs 6:12-19 The Shit Disturber & The Big 6

After telling us that we should be as hard-working as the ant, Solomon advises which direction that industry should take. Wisdom dictates that unless we want our lives to be ruled by ruin and catastrophe, we need to avoid talking out of both sides of our mouths, saying one thing and doing another, cooking up devious plots to bring disaster on others, and being a “shit” disturber.  He even outlines six behaviors that the Eternal One despises. They are:

  • People who look down on others,
  • A liar,
  • Those who hurt the innocent,
  • People who harbor evil in their hearts,
  • Someone who willing takes a wicked path,
  • A false witness.

Wisdom calls us to look upon others with compassion and love, never in haughty arrogance, or from a position of superiority.  Liars and those who would willingly make up stories about others are people who cannot be trusted. Someone who harbors evil desires in their heart and who would harm the innocent are faithless reprobates, and are not the kind of people the wise associate with. These are all behaviors that God hates, that speak against God’s laws, and that open up a world of hurt and misfortune for those who follow their teaching.  And, as if to underscore what he had just said, he adds the “shit” disturber to his list.

Wisdom calls on us to follow God’s laws, to write them on the tablet of our hearts, to live our lives every day according to His will, to seek Him first among all things.

~SLM

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Proverbs 6:6-11 An Ant’s Blueprint

Any discussion about wisdom has to include the subject of laziness. Solomon tells us to take a lesson from ants, that ants are the prime example of wisdom in action. Ants are one of God’s most industrious creatures, and I can attest to their tenacity every spring when they invade the kitchen.  They doggedly and tirelessly go about their work, and I’ve never seen one that wanted to sleep ‘til noon, knock off early, or take an afternoon nap because they’re exhausted by their lives.  An ant knows what it needs to do and works diligently to accomplish its tasks without a team leader, a boss or a king.

It seems that in our society, work is a dirty word, a bad habit, a thing to be avoided whenever possible. But without work, what would we do with ourselves? Whether it’s taking care of a family, working at the Walmart, volunteering for our church or a local charity, or directing a multi-million dollar corporation, work is an expression of who we are. It’s God’s way of utilizing the talents he has given us, and it involves more than what we do for a living.

Every day there are any number of things that just have to be done, and it’s our responsibility as stewards of this earth to see to it. We don’t get time off from life; wisdom says that we should assess the situation and motivate ourselves to accomplish what needs to be done. It is only through a mindful stewardship of life’s obligations that we can feel safe in the knowledge that we are indeed accomplishing God’s plan for our lives.

 

~SLM

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Proverbs 6:1-5 A Fool and His Money

Originally, I had intended to tackle Proverbs 6:1-19 in one fell swoop, but sometimes the direction we are called to follow is poles apart from the path we have laid out for ourselves. So, today’s post is reserved for a fool and his money, and how putting our reputation on the line for someone else’s debt is not a very wise move.

When I was 19, my dad did this very thing for me. I had gotten it into my mind that I would like to take a trip to the Holy Land, and since I had just quit college, and had only been employed for a few short months, I didn’t have the money.  Dad cosigned on a loan for me, and while I did understand that there was no way I could ever face him again, if I didn’t pay it back, I don’t think I was fully aware of the risk he took for me. It was HIS honor on the line, not mine.  I’m glad my dad didn’t take Solomon’s advice, and that I didn’t leave him holding the bag. I have been witness to many an instance where others were not as careful about how they have treated another’s reputation as I was with my dad’s.  Sometimes the things we do in the name of love, in the name of friendship, of business, or of just plain neighborliness, don’t work out exactly as we imagine they might, bringing us to loss and disgrace.

Once again, as I’m finding with most of the Proverbs, the subject applies to more than simply guaranteeing someone else’s loan. It also applies to vouching for another’s integrity, which, I guess, is really what we do when we “cosign” for someone else.

We take a chance, when we put our faith in anyone other than God, and hitching our star to someone else is risky business at best. While I’m certain that God wants us to help each other as much as we can, it’s not a very wise move to vouch for another man’s debts.  It’s a trap, entangling us into compromising positions, ensnaring us by our words, deceiving us into heart ache, and unless we are prepared to walk into all sorts of troubles, and live by the consequences, it’s a practice best avoided.

 

~SLM

Note: At last, after a several days of fever-induced delirium, a few more of wild coughing and headache, I’ve finally gotten to post about Proverbs 6 – YAY!!!

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Proverbs 5:15-23 Dance with The One Who Brought You

After warning us off the path of the seductress, Solomon goes on to talk of faithfulness, of the wisdom of dancing with the one who brought you.  Sometimes we can convince ourselves that things are better and the water is sweeter in someone else’s yard, but usually, if we go ahead and climb that fence, it doesn’t take long the realize what’s what.  That beautiful field of green with luscious fountains is in reality only painted asphalt with flowing streams of vinegar.  Wise council advises us that not only should we be wary of the enticements of temptress, but we can also find the happiness we seek right in our own back yard with those to whom we have pledged our faithfulness.  Solomon instructs us to “drink from our own well” and to be “intoxicated” with the love of our wife/husband, to delight in their affection. This is the path to contentment, this is the way of the wise, and all esle is but foolish thought.

Here again the subject matter can be interpreted on many levels. At the surface it’s about marriage, about honoring your commitment to your spouse, but on another level, it’s also about life’s commitments, about keeping all the promises you make.  Christ made many allegorical statements about our relationship to God as that of the bride to the bridegroom, and in that light, Proverbs 5 becomes a guide for not only our personal relationships to each other, but also our relationship to God.

 

~SLM

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Proverbs 5:1-14 Beware The Seductress

Most commentaries associate this section of Proverbs 5 with the most common and widely held definition of adultery, which is specifically sexual sin, but the Latin root word adulterare (a-dul-ter-air) simply means to adulterate or to corrupt something. In ancient times, it was applied to sex outside the marriage bed between any man (married or not) and a married or betrothed woman, thus “corrupting” the issue (baby) from said woman. In other words, since they didn’t have paternity testing, and since fatherhood had legal and moral ramifications, they had a less cavalier attitude about the “Baby-daddy!”

Here again, Solomon uses the image of a woman to illustrate his point, and it’s interesting to me that he can so masterfully enliven the personification of the seductress. He describes her as having lips that drip with honey and a voice as smooth as oil, evoking the portrait of a beautiful woman who entices with sweet words and smooth promises of ecstasies untold.  It’s a powerful, provocative image, one that is meant to convey how dangerous seduction can be, because while she appears to be smooth and polished as sweet as honey, she is, in reality, bitter and distasteful, as dangerous as a double-edged sword, and highly unstable, enticing us down a wayward path that leads to death and destruction.

While I understand the strong legal and moral associations linking adultery to sex, adultery is so much more than just sex.   In fact, idolatry, covetousness, and apostasy are spoken of as spiritual adultery in many places in the Old Testament (Jer. 3:6, 8-9; Ezek. 16:31-32; Hos. 1:2; Isa. 1:21), and we can be seduced into all sorts of corruption. We can be enticed into compromising relationships, into nefarious activities, into revering anything and everything but God. Corruption abounds in this world in many forms, and it’s through listening to the voice of God through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and steadfastly striving to live the life He would have us live that we may avoid following  in the wayward footsteps of the seductress; a road that leads to bitterness, regret, loss of respect and ruin.

~SLM

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Proverbs 4: A Simple Prayer

Dear Lord, show me the face of wisdom and help me to keep her voice in my heart.  You alone are the master of all that exists; you alone can create with just a word, speak to my heart and create in me the desire to follow your lead. Help me to see and understand with crystal clarity your will, show me the light of your love, that I may share your love and honor your great name.  Amen.

~SLM

 

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Proverbs 4:20-27 Deliver Us From Evil

The goal of reaching wisdom is not enough, we are instructed to hold and maintain it, to know it and practice it. There are so many things in this world that can distract and lead us astray, sending us head-long down an erroneous road. We must guard our hearts and minds, our thoughts and speech against dishonesty and deviousness. For what we hold in our hearts and our minds dictates how we behave and how we live our lives.

Our actions spring from our beliefs, our convictions and inner drives. Wise action is a result of clear thought, and clear thought, which is vital to living wisely, comes from God. Solomon counsels us to seek God first, and with his Holy Spirit filling our hearts, to keep our eyes trained on the goal, which is seeking truth, following God’s path, and keeping his ordinances. This is how we can survey the land in which we live and choose the prudent path for our feet to follow. This is how we “live long and prosper,” how we are delivered from evil.

~SLM

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Proverbs 4:10-19 A Matter of Attitude

It’s all about a mind-set, a way of looking at the world, a pattern of behavior, and how that mind-set affects our relationships.  To get along in this world, to live a long and fruitful life, we must first understand what it means to be wise.  Wisdom is not an innate part of our being; it is something that must be sought after. We are not born with it, we must acquire it. It is not something we find on the beach, at the mall, or hidden in our grandmother’s closet.  It’s the result of quiet contemplation, of seeking the inner voice of God in our hearts and applying his spiritual guidance to the every-day situations in our lives. It is only through our passionate attention to the voice of wisdom that we can understand what is true and right, that we can recognize wickedness and therefore avoid it, setting our feet in the opposite direction from it.  

Jealousy, anger, greed, envy, pride, all consuming lust for anything, these are the precursors to wickedness and evil. When we are ruled by this way of thinking, it is so easy to get sucked into doing the wrong thing, especially if we cannot recognize what is happening to us. We hang out with nefarious characters, who care little or nothing about much else than themselves, we go along with popular trends, we participate in troublesome activities, and we willfully reject what we know to be honest. Evil is like a contagious disease, it infects all that it comes in contact with, and spreads easily. The only way we have to guard ourselves from its effects is to live according to God’s wisdom.

To be wise, we must search for the light; we must carry it in our hearts and hold it high for the sake of others. We must keep it as we would keep a precious and valuable jewel, lest we lose it and be adrift in the dark, getting tossed on every wave that crashes toward us, pushing us closer and closer toward the desolate shores of misery. Wisdom is the light that shines in the darkness, illuminating our way, showing us where to step, guiding us out of the shadows, and into the clear, calm land of spiritual fulfillment.

~SLM

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Proverbs 4:1-9 Solomon Speaks

One of the things I like best about Solomon’s verse is how he illustrates wisdom. He speaks of wisdom as a woman, and the phraseology is, for me, the picture of a loving mother, one who embraces us, guards us, guides us, exalts us, reprimands us, and honors us. I find it so spot-on that wisdom is described in this manner, a comfort that her realization is imperative to our living a blessed life. Solomon promises that if we do not forget her, she will keep us. If we love her she will guard us. If we prize her she will exalt us. If we embrace her, she will honor us.

Solomon’s lesson for his children is that we should seek, above all else, understanding, insight, wisdom. We should listen to the intelligence our ancestors have collected and recorded for our benefit. He tells us to never forget this: The primary goal in life is to obtain wisdom, therefore we should set our intention on acquiring it, and the purpose of its attainment is understanding.

Once again, we are reminded that the root of wisdom is the application of understanding in our daily lives, and to secure wisdom, we must gain insight. Insight is inspired understanding. Inspired understanding comes from our reverence for all that we do not know, all that is beyond our grasp, for our reverence of God, for God is the master of all that is incomprehensible to us. So here we are, again, back to square one – the beginning of knowledge, understanding and wisdom is the “fear” of the lord.
~SLM

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Proverbs 3 – A Prayer for Guidance

Heavenly Father, gracious and loving source of wisdom, thank you for your guidance and correction.  Fill my heart with the power of your insight and open my ears that I may hear your voice and act upon your instruction. Encourage me to deal fairly and honestly with all whom I meet, and share freely and lovingly the gifts you have given. Help me to hold the difficulties of this life in their proper perspective, to not be envious of those who would hurt others, and to follow only your ways, so that I may stand on the hills of life and shine your light to the world. Amen.
~SLM