September 2, 2008

Today's Reading - Proverbs 2
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Following Scripture Verses

1. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2. So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3. Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4. If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11. Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12. To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
13. Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14. Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
15. Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
16. To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Today's Pathway:
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"To deliver thee from the way of the evil [man], from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;" - Proverbs 2:12-13

In this chapter Solomon teaches his son some of the benefits that wisdom will bring to him. In verse 12 he mentions that wisdom will deliver him from the way of the evil man. What I find particularly interesting about this is that verse 13 describes this evil man as having made the choice to leave the paths of righteousness so that he could walk in the ways of darkness.

I understand that every man is born with a sin nature, and his natural direction is away from God. However, it appears from this passage of Scripture that the evil man made a conscious decision to go in the wrong direction. He could have continued down the correct path. He could have received Christ. He could have obeyed the dictates of the Scriptures, but he did not want to.

People want to blame God for their spiritual condition. Some theologians want to make God responsible for the fact that most men never get saved. This is not what the Bible teaches. Men are born sinners, but men also make choices. Isaiah 53:6 tells us that

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way".

We each have an option in front of us today. We can do right, or we can do evil. Let's not forsake the path of righteousness.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery