Quick pause in our reading of God’s Not Dead, just for today, diving back in tomorrow morning. Today I wanted to get into God’s Word directly, so I am picking up where we left off in Proverbs.
We see 3 distinct themes and sections in these few verses - a command to honor your mother and father, a reminder that the adulteress lies in wait and ready to pull us into a trap, and a sobering reminder of the trap of alcohol (pun intended). It feels a little like a punch in the face this morning!
I loved this verse, 23 says, “Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” . What a great reminder as to the value of wisdom. Likewise, it places a value on honoring wisdom as well...leaning into it, applying it. Very strong.
And then the reminder that adultery is a trap...it is rampant in our society, or at least it seems so. The best part of these 3 verses is the 1st verse, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” It sounds to me like the father is saying that the son shouldn’t follow our societal advice, which is to ‘follow your heart’, which has to be about the worst advice ever...or, at least, the worst advice if you want good relationships. Multiple places in the Bible tell us that following our heart is a bad idea, and that our hearts lie to us. Our hearts can be great guides in aggregate, over time, and when measured against God’s truths. But our hearts as a compass...bad idea. I love that the writer starts with ‘give me your heart’, aka, let me be your guide, and then moves to wisdom about the issue, basically pressing this issue as a wisdom issue and something that isn’t a ‘feelings’ issue. Strong stuff again.
And lastly, the writer addresses the ‘drunkard’. I have written in here, a few weeks ago, that had fallen into a pattern of overconsumption and that I was committing to being free of it for a period of time. I did that, and I realized that God must have been leaning in on me, because I got the message. Moderation really is an important thing. Most things require moderation to remain good things...it is just one of those things about life that seems to re-prove itself time and time again. For some people, this is a ‘flee’ issue, for others, moderation. The most important thing is to know which of those two you are, and then being comfortable with that reality.
Some great truths today...strong stuff!