Proverbs 7
ScriptureProverbs 7:1-3My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.2 Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.ObservationFor if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. – Romans 8:13This chapter is used to warn against the adulterous woman, which leads to sins of the flesh…and the result of not doing so being death.UnderstandingThere’s a second part of verses that stood out to me in this chapter.21 With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.22 All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter,like a deer[a] stepping into a noose[b]23 till an arrow pierces his liver,like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.Pastor Gary talked in service last week about how the devil is sly and will often work through the people we love and are closest to in order to accomplish his destruction – Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah. It can happen that with people we love or in relationships where we feel “safe” that we let our guards down and the enemy can strike.In this chapter the person the person used is less subtle but the message is still the same – be on guard. So how do we be out in the world but not become of the world? We must arm ourselves. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ... – 2 Peter 1:5-8For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. – Romans 8:5-8My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.2 Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.-Proverbs 7:1-3We must actively seek God, be in the word, set our minds on the things of the spirit, keep His commands. And we must recognize the outcome of NOT doing so – death, destruction of our very soul and being ineffective for the Lord. That last one breaks my heart, for our whole purpose for being created is to know Him and to make Him known. How unfortunate it would be to live a life ineffective for the Lord. Life ApplicationGod, I’m grateful for the path you’ve called me to as your child – to know you and make you known. May I be willing to submit to your will at all costs, considering you first. May I guard my heart against the enemy’s desire to kill, steal and destroy – to render me ineffective for your service. Keep me in your hands today. Amen.
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- Rei