Calling to those who pass by, Who are making their paths straight: Proverbs 9:15

So far we've seen that Folly as personified in this passage is someone we do not want to heed.  Yet still foolishness calls to us every day.  Here in this verse we find that Folly is calling to us.  The word "call" here has the idea of inviting, summoning, or calling by name.  One thing we need to grasp in life is that while we live in a fallen world, sin is going to be calling out to us.  A couple of insights from this passage, though, will be very profitable for our consideration today.

First of all we see that Folly is calling to those who are passing by.  Thus, we see that if we listen to a call to foolish living it will be a distraction from us following the way that God has us going in our lives.  Elsewhere in the book of Proverbs we are warned to keep our eyes directly ahead - focusing on the next step - focusing on the direction that we are going as we follow the Lord.  Thus the best thing we can do is to stay focused on the way the lord is leading us and ignore distractions immediately.  Let what the Lord is saying and doing presently in your life consume your vision - and be quick to ignore or put away other voices and other messages that try to pull you away from a singular pursuit of His ways and His paths.

Second, we see that the call of Folly comes as we are "making our paths straight."  This speaks of someone who is actively wanting to walk in God's ways - in holiness and righteousness.  This is when we can almost expect distractions and interruptions that try to call our attention away from a life dedicated to holy and godly living.  It should be no real shock to us to remember that our lives are littered with signs, with noise, with everything that is trying to get our attention.  Probably no other time in history had as many distractions as ours.  This is why it is so important to learn to disregard the vast majority of them - and to disregard them altogether if they are interrupting your devotion to the Lord.

The desire of Folly is to first get our attention.  Then as we hear what she has to say we find not just our eyes, but our minds becoming distracted from God's Word and ways.  If our attetion is successfully maintained, then our reasoning will be challenged - which can lead to sin if we continue focusing upon ahd listening to the wrong things.  A wise man learns to maintain his focus and to push distractions and disturbances out of his mind.  In doing this, he does much to protect himself from the pitfalls and traps set by the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Proverbs 4:25

Godly fathers warn their sons about distractions.  It was a distraction that led to the fall of mankind.  It was when Satan got the man and the woman to look at the one thing they probably should not have set in their sights that they were distracted enough to make the mistake of not just look at it - but partake of the forbidden fruit.  In much the same way, our sons are being constantly given things to look at that are not wise for them to put in the path of their vision.  What we look at long enough - will so fill our vision that we want to partake of it.  That can get our sons in all kinds of trouble.

Dad speaks frankly with his sons, telling them to have their eyes look directly in front of them.  He says this again with greater intensity telling the boys to let their gaze be fixed straight in front of them.  This is important for sons because they are going to face a tremendous amount of visual stimulation from the world.  We are warned against a worldliness where we live for the lust of our eyes.  This warning should remind us as fathers that what our eyes see can stimulate very strong desires that cry out for fulfillment.

David had a vision of a beautiful woman bathing in front of his eyes one evening in Jerusalem.  He could have looked away, but rather than do this, David fixed his gaze upon Bathsheba.  Soon, looking was not enough for David - he had to have more.  That look led to a horrible set of problems, beginning with adultery, and ending with a devastating set of consequences for his entire family - indeed, for all of Israel. 

Oh, how we need to use such things to warn our sons against the sins of the eyes.  How we need to warn them to keep their vision fixed straight in front of them.  They need to have a vision that dominates their lives - and it needs to be one where they focus on Christ.  Paul told us that when we gaze at Him with unveiled faces that we will be transformed into the very image that is set before our eyes.  May we be diligent in encouraging our sons to have that vision be the Lord Jesus Christ!