July 5, 2008

Today's Reading - Proverbs 5
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Following Scripture Verses

1. My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2. That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3. For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
5. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7. Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9. Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11. And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12. And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14. I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
22. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Today's Pathway:
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"Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them." - Proverbs 5:6

As we have seen previously, Proverbs 5 deals extensively with the strange woman, and contains numerous warnings to stay away from her. Verse 6 gives an interesting statement about this woman, which, I believe, can really be applied to the world in all its ramifications. Solomon writes that that it is difficult to figure this woman out, for she does not want you to know her and thus her methods and ways change regularly.

If a man really took the time to consider the end result of associating with an impure woman, he would run away from her as fast as he could. However, the Devil works in such a way that the woman always comes across in a different manner. One moment she tempts with her beauty; another moment she tempts with personality. Later she tempts with the idea that no one will ever know about your relationship with her. Sometimes she pretends to genuinely care. Perhaps she even allures with the idea that a relationship with her really isn't sinful at all. All these different areas of temptation cause a man to lose focus on the end result, and instead entice him to sin.

There is an application here to the entirety of the world system. Satan does not want you to consider the long-range results of your behavior. He doesn't want you to think about the place where alcohol, or cigarettes, or immorality, or uncontrolled temper, or laziness, or covetousness will take you. Thus, his temptations will come at you from a variety of places and with a variety of charms. He will beguile you in any way that he can until he gets you to succumb.

What is the answer to this? Simply say "No" to sin. Remember Proverbs 1:10:

"If sinners entice thee, consent thou not."

Pastor Mark J Montgomery