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Proverb A DAy

Why We Can't Just, "Get Along" - Proverbs 29:27

1/2/2013

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Proverbs 29:27  An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.

The godly and the ungodly take very divergent paths. This is fairly elementary to anyone to see. But what we often do not see is that not only are these paths different - they are also disgusting to each other. The word that is used in today's proverb to describe the view that they have of each other is "abominable." The word used here is the Hebrew word "ebah" which means anything that is offensive or what is an abomination to someone else. In Scripture God uses this word to describe those who depart from His Law. Often the word is used for more grievous sins - like idolatry, child sacrifice, and homosexual behavior. What God is saying to us is that there is a radical and serious difference between those who desire to live godly and those who do not. Let's look at little further into this as we seek to understand God's wisdom for us today.

The "unjust" man ("awel" in the Hebrew) is one who deviates from God's way. This kind of behavior and choice is usually set in contrast to words like righteous, upright, and justice. There is a basic injustice in the one who deviates from God's way - and God, being just, will have to bring judgment and punishment to the one who does so. This is why the unjust man is abominable to the righteous. The godly man sees that the unjust man is unjust first and foremost to God Himself - then from that infinite injustice flows all other lesser injustices to others. Since we know that the righteous man is not so because of his own works but due to God's grace, the righteous man knows the cost of this ungodly behavior. That cost is God's Son, crucified on the cross (to the Old Testament saint it was the promise of this in the sacrifices of the Law). To embrace such behavior is to treat God's gift - the sacrifice made to forgive us and remove us from under God's wrath - as worthless and empty. This is an abomination to the righteous man.

The same is true of the ungodly man toward the upright. What the ungodly see is a man who is "upright in the way." This phrase communicates the path of the godly man. What the ungodly sees is a guy who is seeking to walk according to a set of rules that are different than his. He is seeking to be upright - which means to do what is good and what is right. That alone is offensive to the ungodly man. His worldview involves him deciding what is right and good. It even involves him changing his views to match his lifestyle if he desires. To have what he considers an arbitrary set of morals set by God - which is then viewed as ultimate truth is untenable to him. That would mean his own views of right and wrong are in error if they are different than those God has given. His value system cannot tolerate this - because his value system is that of the book of Judges. He does whatever is "right in his own eyes." He is a law unto himself. He does not judge anyone else (unless they judge him or get in the way of him doing what he wants to do) and he expects the same from everyone else (of course always giving way to what he wants if there is any contradiction). Thus the "way" or lifestyle of this guy who is so arrogant as to call his way "right" is an abomination to him. It offends him to the core of his being!

Paul told young Timothy the following in his second letter to him, "Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Timothy 3:11-13) Often we focus only on the last of these three verses - that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. This was only a conclusion for what Paul had already said in verses 11-12. In those verses he spoke of his teaching, conduct, purpose, and faith. Paul was persecuted because he chose to live in "the upright way." That way consisted of two things - both of which are vital to understanding Christianity. 

First is the 'way of salvation.' The upright way will never be lived out by effort and striving. Righteousness and upright living is attained by grace, not by our works. God MAKES us upright by an act of His mercy and grace. That comes through the gospel - and only through the gospel. The world finds this incredibly offensive and very narrow minded. But that is the truth. That is how God has addressed sin - and that is, according to Jesus Himself, the only way, truth, and life - the only way to the Father. The second truth of the upright way is that we live and walk it out in a paradox - we work as God works within us. We are called to obedience - and we seek God's power by which we can then walk in that obedience. We are to make choices - strong and bold choices - even as it is God who works in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Living a godly life involves a glorious tension in our lives. We are to do it - and He is to do it within us. We cannot think we do it on our own - and we cannot think that He will do it for us without our cooperation. 

The wicked find this whole scenario ridiculous and an abomination. To them it is ridiculous because there is no God - or if there is, their god agrees with them. They have a god of their own making - who looks and acts just like they do. Any other God is unacceptable. The word "wicked" here is telling. The word is "rasa" and it means to be guilty - a wrong-doer, criminal, or a transgressor. It means someone who is wrong! The reason the wicked hate the upright, and find their way abominable is because as they watch them - they know they are wrong. They do not want anyone telling them they are wrong. Their reaction to this is to fume within and rage about how judgmental the Christian is - even if the Christian is not saying anything to them. Their very lifestyle is a rebuke to them. If the Christian speaks out - then they explode - because their guilt rages within them. 

There will always be a radical distinction between the righteous and the wicked. There will also be a hostility to the way each other chooses to live. That is the wisdom that God is seeking to impart to us through today's proverb. Therefore the constant effort among Christians to make the gospel inoffensive is silliness. We can be gracious and kind in how we communicate the gospel - but to make it inoffensive to the wicked is impossible. There will always be the offense of the cross of Christ. There will always be the offense of God asserting that He is God and He is absolutely right on moral matters (and all others he touches upon as well). Thus the constant effort to make Christianity inoffensive in its essence is a fool's pursuit. It would be wise for us to abandon it and return to living it simply before the lost, loving them from the heart, and doing all that we can to share the message of the gospel with them. We do so not because we think we are superior. Perish that thought. We do it because we've received grace and desire for them to receive it as well. We want them to be saved - made righteous by grace - and abandon their abominable way to embrace a life lived by the grace of God unto the glory of God.

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Are You a Concealer or a Confessor?  Proverbs 28:13

10/24/2012

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He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. Proverbs 28:13

Here is a proverb that agrees perfectly with what is said in the New Testament. We read in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the truth of 1 John 1:9 stated in another way.  Whereas the 1 John passage states this truth in the positive only, this proverb also warns us of the consequences and danger of not dealing with our sins.

The Concealer . . . First we are told about the fate of the one who conceals his transgressions. The word "conceal" means to cover - and has the idea of a cover up. This man is hiding his transgressions (word meaning a sin or rebellion - here against God and His Law and His way).  Thus the concealer is not willing to bring his sin to light before God. He therefore hides his rebellion thinking that God does not see him.  This same word was used to describe how Joseph's brothers tried to hide their sin when they dipped his coat in goat's blood and brought to Jacob.  There was an attempted cover up by Joseph's brothers which eventually came to light.  In the same way, we are warned against covering up our sins.  They will come to light - and the way this happens in by a loss of the blessing of God.

Psalm 32:5 also speaks of his particular sin of hiding and trying to cover up our sin. The Psalmist says, "I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah." When he was trying to hide his sin from God, the Psalmist had nothing but grief and pain.  When he faced his sin before God he received forgiveness. Hiding our sins is not only counterproductive - it is also ridiculously foolish.  We serve a God Who is omniscient.  He knows all things.  When Adam and Eve tried to hide in the garden - it was out of shame and rebellion.  The problem for them was that God could still see them - and did even as they committed the first sin.  Cain answered God rebelliously when God asked where his brother Abel was.  Cain must have thought God did not see - but he did - and Abel's blood was crying out to God from the ground.  Moses thought he could kill the Egyptian and hide him in the piles of grain - but God saw - as well as some other Hebrews.  HEre is a fact you should always remember.  We can never hide our sin from a holy, omniscient God. He truly sees all!  He warns his people, "Be sure that your sins will find you out!"

Proverbs tells us that this man who is trying to conceal his sin will not prosper.  Prosper is the Hebrew word "tsalach" which means to succeed or to be victorious.  This word has the idea of breaking out or breaking through - and has a military aspect to it.  It spoke of how an army would break through their enemies - which was a sure sign that they were about to win the battle and defeat them.  Proverbs says to us is that concealing our sins is way to ensure we will NOT PROSPER.   God wants us to confess and forsake our sin. When we choose rebellion and sin against God, we are in serious trouble.  We are facing judgment if we do not know Christ - or discipline if we do.  What we need is grace - we need God's compassion.  That is exactly what Proverbs is wanting to teach us.  God wants us to know how to obtain His compassion when we sin?

How do we obtain God's compassion and restoration?  First, we confess our sins and rebellion. What is fascinating here is the word that God uses to describe confession.   The Hebrew word is "yadah." This word means to throw towards - to cast something towards.  Here it means to throw off our sin and cast it towards God.   It means that we are throwing all our sin and rebellion to God - with a desire for Him to show us forgiveness and compassion.  What is wild is that this same word is used for praising God - meaning that we are casting our hands up into the air and casting our praises toward God.  God does not want us to try to hold our sins close to us - He wants us to cast those sins away from us and toward Him for His compassion and grace!

There is a second thing that puts us in line for God's compassion and forgiveness.  Some teach that all we need to do is to confess our sins and everything is fine with God.  That is partially true.  There is suppose to be a second attitude present.  If it is not - I do not believe the Bible says that we will receive forgiveness.  That attitude or action is to forsake our sins.  This word means to abandon, desert, leave behind, completely neglect and STOP.  When we come to God seeking His compassion and forgiveness - we need to come with a heart that says, "Please forgive me God . . . and I also want to forsake and abandon my sin."  This is the kind of heart that finds compassion and forgiveness before God.  

This verse is vital in us knowing the fellowship and grace of God.  It is so important for us to grasp the call of God to deal with our sins and rebellion.  I honestly believe that just as 1 John 1:9 is such a blessed verse - this verse in Proverbs 28:13 is as well.  Oh that we would hear this and heed it as well.  It would throw open to us the door to God's grace, mercy, and compassion that we need every day of our lives.
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Are We Muddying the Springs of Our Heart?  Proverbs 25:26

9/16/2012

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Like a trampled spring and a polluted well Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. Proverbs 25:26

A spring or well holds such promise. When we come to one or hear of one there is the hope of clear fresh water. We can drink and be refreshed. Yet to come to one and find it trampled to where it is dirty and filled with mud and pollutants is such a disheartening thing. This is true in the realm of water - but how much more so when applied to the lives of godly men.

This trampled spring or polluted well is actually a godly, righteous man who surrenders and gives way before the wicked. Giving way has the idea of wavering, wobbling and shaking before one falls. The fall is imminent and that is what all the movement indicates is coming. The Hebrew also indicates it can be a foot slipping or a fire flaming out.

This picture in the Hebrew is applied to a righteous man who faces the true test of his righteousness. THE test is when he stands before the wicked. He chooses to face such a test by walking in righteousness, and that might cost him dearly. The test may be as little as the disagreement of others - and it may be as large as facing martyrdom for his stand. Regardless the situation, this righteous man chooses instead to give way - to wobble and totter in his views. He changes his mind - or acts contrary to it. His pollution and trampling come as a result of not standing firm in his convictions. He does not hold to the Word in such situations - but gives way before the world instead.

There are so many men and women in history who have given way before the wicked. They have chosen the way of peace - at least peace on this earth. There will be no peace for them in the end when they stand before God. But they do not want to rock the boat. The conclusion of such matters is that a life that could have been so refreshing to others is trampled and polluted. Now all it does it disappoint those who needed a refreshing drink. What they could have offered is ruined - because they chose to waver in their faith before the wicked.

There is another way that we give way before the wicked. It is not as public as the outright denial of Christ contained in a renunciation. Yet this kind of "giving way" happens in a secret tribunal - the one that comes up in our hearts when wickedness comes and asks for our obedience. There are secret forays into sin - and secret moments when we give way before the wicked. Such things are not public displays - but they nevertheless muddy he waters of our heart. It might be a little while lie we chose to indulge in - or a look that begins innocently, but ends in an adulterous heart. It might be a way we've cheated or cut corners at work to not give our best for God's glory and the testimony of His name. Whatever it is, it tramples our well - and muddies the waters of our heart so that we cannot give as clear a drink of clean, life-giving water to others from the well of our hearts - that should be flowing outward with the rivers of living water of the Holy Spirit.

There is hope for those who have thus fallen in the New Testament. Peter gave way before the wicked - and that could have been the final message of his life. Fortunately for him Christ came and offered grace and forgiveness. He called Peter to repentance - and then back to usefulness. In no way do I want to lessen the truth of this passage - that righteous men need to stand in righteous views when the wicked come wanting them to compromise. Godly men need to remain godly when the ungodly want them to "tone it down" and lower their standards (which most often means to lower the standards of Scripture). We do need to stand firm and hold to the Word rather than the world. But, when we do fall, it is good to know that when we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive them. Nevertheless, we need to be wise and stand firm when confronted by the wicked. To do otherwise may mean allowing a well or spring that could offer many a fresh drink of the water of the Word, nothing more than the muddy, polluted waters of sinful compromise with the world. There are plenty of places where you can be served a drink of that kind of swill. May God help us to be men and women who stand firm on the gospel - which grants us power to stand - and also gives us grace to get up even if we've made the mistake of giving way before sin in our lives. May we be wise and choose righteousness and holiness so that the waters of our heart not be muddied with the pollution of sin and compromise.

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What Kind of Mouth Wins the World? Proverbs 17:20

3/30/2012

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He who has a crooked mind finds no good, And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil. Proverbs 17:20

If you know someone with a perverted mouth - it is because it flows from a morally bankrupt mind. Even as I reread this statement, something within me just recoils from such a strong statement as this - and yet - when we truly understand what God is saying here in Proverbs - that is exactly what is being communicated.

The first thing we see here is a man with a "crooked mind." The word for "crooked" is the Hebrew word "iqqesh" and it means to be perverse, twisted, and crooked. The idea is that of someone who has a moral, religous, and social perversion by which their mind works. They do not think thoughts that are aligned with decent morals. They despise not just morals - but also religion and any kind of social contract by which men seek to live together in a decent fashion. They highly despise the idea of morals that are the result of religious principle. They hate such things - seeing themselves as free moral agents to determine whatever morals or lack of them they want. The consequences of such moral mental suicide is that they cannot find any good. This really is not that shocking since they would deny the existance of any kind of universal good or absolute truth. To them truth is relative to the situation - and since they hate moral goodness - it is not difficult to see that they revel in the evil and the godless things of the world - and tend to shy away from anything else. Thus - of course they would reject the good - and not be able to find any in society.

The second thing we see is a man who is perverted in his language. Perverted language is language that seeks to throw down, overturn, destroy, and wander from accepted biblical norms of how we should speak. There is a lot of disagreement on what this means in today's society. We've slowly grown to be the first society historically in the church to embrace cursing from the pulpit. The excuse that is so often used is that of saying that words are just words - we are the ones that make them curse words - or at least bad ones. What I find a little disingenuous about all this is that even the world system used to have a set of words that they would not allow on television and movies. It has only been over the past couple of generations that these accepted norms have been overturned in favor of the current "delightful" fare that we've embraced in our day. As you can tell, I am of the opinion that such language is totally unacceptable not just for use in the pulpit - but for use in every day life. It seems to me that as our society has retreated from God - we've also retreated from being circumspect about the things we say. To confess my own sins - I've watched my own speech begin to be down-graded, if you will. The Holy Spirit is in the process of encouraging (and often rebuking) me as He seeks to have me live above the moral cesspool of the accepted speech of my society.

The danger here is that we are warned that such speech DOES come from a mind that is being twisted away from the truth. The other danger is that when we do this we are warned that we "fall into evil." Whenever the church thinks it can reach the world by aping the world's behavior - we watch the opposite happen. First, we do not reach the world - but oh, how the world "reaches" us. We watch the same value systems - which might better be called "value-less" systems - that are in the world truly invade the church. When we do not watch our mouths - we will allow a kind of reverse-infection to occur in our hearts. The word used for mind in the first part of this verse actually means, "heart." Therefore when we do not watch our mouths - it is evidence that our hearts have been captured as well.

Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore is it too strident a thing to say that if we have a perverse mouth - it arises out of a twisted and deceived mind? Our mouths simply reveal what is in our hearts. It would be to our benefit to watch our mouths and be careful what is allowed to come forth from them. In the end - we might look more "appetizing" the world if we do - but could that be simply because we lose the distinction of speaking in a holy manner that embraces purity and righteousness.

Let me say one last thing though - unless some get the idea that I think we are to be the public censure of all that is unacceptable speech-wise. We are called to be salt and light. That means we embrace holiness - not as a means of beating the lost to death - but as a means to be different and to be a thirst-creator in our world. The lost WILL become thirsty for what we ARE - and therefore will want the One who has changed us. Our purpose is to allow holiness to be revealed in our lives as a thirst-agent. We are not to use holiness as something to shame the lost into feigned obedience to God. That will do more to harm the gospel than reveal it. So . . . my admonition to you from Scripture is to have a mouth that is radically different than the world. Let your mouth not be filled with perversion - and your heart filled with deception and twisted morals. Instead let it be filled with Your Lord - who, by the way, did not descend into such language anywhwere in the gospels. He simply lived for God - spoke for Him - and although rejected by some - was embraced by many who saw His actions - His words - and His heart - and became incredibly thirsty for real holiness. May God make us those same things in our generation.

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Mercy, Truth, and the Fear of God . . . Proverbs 16:6

5/16/2010

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By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil. Proverbs 16:6

Here is wisdom . . . He atones for iniquity by lovingkindness and truth.  The Hebrew does not give the impression that any kind of lovingkindness and truth will do - it is His that does this - it is God's mercy and truth that grants us forgiveness of sin.  Let's look at this - because imbedded in this verse is the gospel itself!

Lovingkindness is the Hebrew word for God's covenant love and mercy.  This word speaks of God's grace - that He shows us mercy in keeping with His covenant with us - and with the fact that He has set His love upon us.  Here is salvation described gloriously to us.  God Himself has set His love upon us - and because of His mercy and what He has done to give us something we don't deserve - He has forgiven us all our sins. 

What is even more wonderful about this verse is that God does not separate the work of His grace from the work of His truth.  It is by both God's mercy and truth that iniquity is atoned for when God is working in us.  He brings truth to us by the Spirit of God when the Word convicts us.  He does this by bringing of all things the Law which convicts us of sin.  Without this work of truth showing us our sin - we are unfit for mercy - for mercy presumes that we realize that we don't deserve anything but judgment from God.  But when truth brings us to the end of ourselves and our godless ways - we come to grace and cry for God's mercy.

Once that work of grace happens by God's truth and mercy - we need something to keep us away from evil.  Proverbs tells us that this work happens as we fear the Lord.  When we properly reverence God - when we see Him as holy - we tremble over sin and over anything that would be rebellion against Him. 


What a great verse instructing us how to walk with the Lord.  We are taught of both salvation and sanctification - of grace and godly fear - of mercy and of fear.  There is a balance to the things of God that too often is lacking.  We all tend to lean more toward mercy or truth - and yet God's Word tells us that both are necessary.  We want all grace or all fearing God.  What we find is that God tells us that both must be present for us to grow in the Lord.  May we have the wisdom to embrace both the work of grace and the work of the fear of God in our lives. 
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Avoiding a Stinky Lifestyle . . . Proverbs 13:5

5/13/2010

2 Comments

 
A righteous man hates falsehood, But a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully. Proverbs 13:5

Here is a great commentary on how a righteous man will live his life.  It is also a good reminder for us who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus as to what we should hate and what we should avoid in life. 

The righteous man hates falsehood.  There it is as simply as we can possibly understand it.  Want to live a righteous life?  Then learn to hate what is false!  But the natural question arises, "But what is false?"

This is where things get interesting for us in our post-modern society.  Our world tells us that truth is in the eye of the beholder.  A little more simply put - truth is whatever is true to you.  You can follow this particular definition of truth right into the swamps of moral decay and confusion.  This ultimately leads you to believe that truth is whatever YOU want it to be - until you are arrested or shot! 

For this proverb to have any meaning at all, there has to be truth - ultimate truth.  Once again, fortunately for those who turn to the revelation of God - there is absolute truth.  The Word of God is truth.  We can turn to it to get out of our moral morrass of our culture and onto solid ground once again.  This may not be easy because moral truth requires moral choices - and the ability to designate things as moral or immoral.  (I can hear the cries of judgmentlism and unfairness even as I write this.)  God determines truth in His Word and calls us to a moral standard equal to that which He reveals.  If we have problems with this - take it up with Him - or rebel against Him (which is usually the action of choice in our world today)  Try a moral overthrow, but it will only lead to your life being crushed upon the rocks of God's moral laws. 

This means that the righteous man lives according to God's standards of right and wrong.  Contrary to popular opinion (popular among fallen men - God hasn't changed His mind on these issues - and never will) - God's moral views are not hard to grasp.  He gave us 10 commandments and a large amount of other material that will help us form a moral worldview that is fairly easy to grasp.  The righteous man therefore considers this to be truth - and lives by it.  The problem for the righteous man is that in this fallen world people will militate against God's moral law.  We have a world that embraces sexual immorality - both heterosexual and homosexual - that embraces abortion and moral ineptitude.  We have a world that considers ethics to be completely situational in orientation.  We have a world that says we must morph to our times and to the moral climate in which we live.  God says differently.  The righteous man hates the lies that distort God's clear moral teachings and ethical standards.  He will hate them and stand with the truth of God no matter the cost. 

The wicked man, though, stinks - and stinks in a shameful manner.  That is what the Hebrew says very descriptively here.  The shameful man acts disgustingly.  The phrase here literally means that he creates a bad, stinky odor!  We use the phrase, "That really stinks!" to refer to something we don't like.  But for the wicked man - his lifestyle stinks to God - and frankly - to anyone who desires to please God.  His lifestyle reeks of selfishness and godlessness.  It reeks of self-interest and self-centeredness.  The words used here spoke of roten food and the horrific odor that they gave off to others.  An ungodly lifestyle stinks with this odor - but it is spiritual in nature.  The wicked man embraces death in his actions.  Man is dead spiritually until he comes to Christ.  The wicked revel in that death - and smell like it as well. 

The wicked man also acts shamefully.  The word use here is "chapher" which means to be ashamed and disgraced.  It speaks of one who is humiliated and embarassed.  The key to graspoing this word is that it refers to how a person reacts in the presence of God.  In the end - we won't be judged by a jury of our peers - for they might approve of how we've lived our lives.  We will face judgment at the thron of God.  He is the One who will determine our future.  If you can imagine the sense of infinite shame that the wicked will know at the throne of God - then you are beginning to get the picture of what we speak of here.  The wicked man gives no thought whatsoever to the fact that all of his actions will be judged by a holy God.  He just plows on in his wicked course until he is interrupted by his death.  Suddenly, all at once, he finds himself before a holy God whose law he has broken.  Things that he considered just fine become the source of unb ounded shame and disgrace to him.  He is overwhelmed by his guilt, humiliation and horror over what he thought was just fine.  Suddenly what was acceptable to him is so no longer.  He hangs his head in shame - but it is too late for that shame to do him any good whatever. 

The righteous man hates lies - because it is lies that deceive men into living their lives without any thought to the judgment of God.  But the righteous man knows of this judgment.  If he is wise the righteous man knows that his only righteousness comes through the gift of God's grace in Jesus Christ.  He receives the righteousness of Christ by faith - and now lives to honor and glorify God.  That is why he also turns away from what God describes to him as sintky and shameful conduct.  He does not measure all things by himself and his desires - but rather by what God reveals to him to be morally true and right. 
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Reminders for Purity . . . Proverbs 7:3

4/7/2010

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Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:3

The Father is continuing to share wisdom with his son - and as he does he once again covers the topic of immorality.  We should take note how often the father addresses this subject - and remember that this is a key area where men fall into sin.  It is particularly an area where we need to take the time to warn our sons and daughters of the dangers of sexual sin.

As the father speaks he tells his son to take what he says and bind in on his fingers.  What an interesting figure of speech this is.  As I looked for what this might mean I read where Hebrew boys would often take a piece of yarn or thread and wind it around their middle finger seven times to remind them of important lessons in their lives.  Here is one where the father tells his son to do this - to do whatever is necessary to have a physical reminder of the truth.  He wants his son to have something he can see to help him remember in a time of temptation that he needs to watch out for immoral woman and the dangers of falling into an immoral relationship.  the second thing that came to my mind was my own wedding ring.  What a wonderful daily reminder my ring is to me of the vows I made to my wife in the sight of God.  I am reminded of the promise to give myself to her and her only all the days of my life.  I also hope that my wedding ring is a reminder to any other woman that I am already taken in this world.

The father also tells his son to write these warnings on the tablet of his heart.  He needs a constant reminder of the Word of God.  He needs to be reminded that the teaching of the Word is one of holiness and purity.  The teaching of the Word is one that will point him to virginity until marriage and faithfulness after marriage.  These are the things we need reminders of in life.  There is such an amazing value to having the Word of God written on our hearts through memorizing and meditating upon the Scriptures daily.  These things will help us immensely. 

David Himself answered an important question about purity in Psalm 119 when he said, "How can a young man keep his way pure?  By keeping it in accordance with Your Word.  With all my heart I have sought Thee, do not let me wander from the Words of Your mouth.  Thy Word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." 

There it is as plain as day.  God knows that if we will write these things on the tablets of our hearts we will be protected from sexual immorality in our lives.  Young men all know that the battle for purity and obedience to God in morality is difficult.  They are far better prepared for this war if they hide God's Word in their hearts.  Then when faced with temptation - they can bring the Word to their minds and make a conscious choice to turn away from sexual temptation and obey God.
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