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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Prov. 4
I can just hear the pleading in the voice of someone who knows here. Maybe that knowledge came from travelling the right path long enough to see the truth in it. Or perhaps it was more from the “been there, done that” kind of experience. Either way, there is genuine conviction in this father’s words to his sons. He doesn’t just tell his sons to listen. He tells them to pay attention and to accept his words. His teaching is something he wants his sons to take to heart. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that his words lead to life.
It reminds me of God’s plea to His people through Ezekiel. “Throw off all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death.” (Ezek. 18:31-32a). It also makes me think of Jesus’ conclusion to His great Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock….But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand…and it collapsed with a great crash.”
If then, we have all these words of conviction telling us the path to life, why do we struggle so hard to stay on that path? God, help me to accept your words, to turn from my own ways, and to actively build my life on your rock!
Prov. 5-6
These two chapters cover several broad areas of wise living. You could also say Godly living, because wisdom comes from God. All of chapter 5 deals with avoiding seduction and remaining faithful in marriage. I believe this advice works metaphorically as well as literally. Faithfulness in marriage is a great representation of faithfulness in our walk with God. In addition, one will certainly affect the other. So it pays to learn how to stay the course and not let the enticements of the world draw you off of it.
Chapter 6 covers rash agreements, laziness, stirring up trouble and living with evil intent, and adultery. I find it interesting that the author addresses adultery separately from seduction. He even suggests that going after another man’s wife is worse than giving in to a prostitute. “For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man goes after a precious life.” (Pr. 6:26). The one harms mainly yourself while the other harms another man. Thus, adultery brings a double dose of destruction on your head.