ResponsiveReiding

No doubt, Solomon’s referent here is to the family as a family. That both parents are impacted by a child’s actions and attitudes. And this idea of mother and father in spiritual growth appears a number of times in Proverbs.

So we have: Prov. 1:8 “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.”

And Prov. 6:20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

See also: 10:1, 15:20, 20:20, 23:22 – etc.

Christians are neither spiritual orphans, nor Fatherless nor Motherless – nor devoid of siblings. We are brought into a family with God our Father, and (if I might speak carefully) the Church our Mother, Christ our brother and the whole household of the saints.

This metaphor stands up and informs us richly. No, it cannot be pressed too far – but it does offer wisdom.

Wisdom delights the God of wisdom. It wins His approval and rejoices His heart. It pleases our Father. Our Heavenly Father for sure, even if we have a failing earthly Father.

But we do not live to Father God alone – all we do impacts His Church as well.

The early Church writers spoke of The Church as a mother. And it is a good simile. For it is the Church who nourishes the soul and keeps the home of the heart while we grow into adulthood. It is the Church which provides the context for sound spiritual growth. So it is the foolishness which is contrary to the joy of the Father’s heart, also brings heartache to the Body of Believers; to His church.

None of us lives unto ourselves.

We would do well to consider how our thoughts, actions and lives reflect on our Father, reflect on and impact our “Mother” Church, and reflect on and impact our spiritual Family as a whole.

Father, give me a heart and mind that consider the ramifications of my actions and attitudes beyond myself to you. And beyond those 2 spheres, unto your Church. Let me live consciously as one who is no longer a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. (Eph. 2:19)

The fear of the Lord comes from only one place – that true knowledge of the Lord. Only when we deal with Him after His character, perfections, immensities, plans, purposes and and power do we come to truly and rightly fear Him.

Only in knowing Him can we know what frames all of reality.

Solomon’s words here need careful consideration. This is not an appeal to a bare knowledge of a nondescript deity.

This is the knowledge of God as Holy.

He is not just “God”, power. But He is the holy God. He is light. He is purity. He cannot err, sin or fail – and in all things holy so that He cannot abide sin. He will judge. We must grasp the terror and the glory of His holiness if we would truly know Him so as to fear Him and to have true wisdom. And certainly, we cannot live wisely in His universe apart from knowing Him this way. Apart from knowing Him as He is and not as we simply imagine Him to be.

Building off of the preceding verses, we see that you cannot bring God’s wisdom to bear on those who do not have the very barest fundamental of fearing God. At least in some respect. If there is no sense of personal responsibility to something higher than oneself in terms of right and wrong and justice – you waste your time until that is resolved.

We must help others come to know God as He has revealed Himself in His Word – and ultimately as incarnate in Jesus Christ. It is why Paul in his famous address in Acts 17 begins by declaring to them the “unknown God.” Until people know who this God of the Bible is in reality, the truths of the Gospel and of a call to trust in Christ for salvation makes no sense.

How glorious are the Gospels then? For in them, we come to see and know the living and true God. And how desperately we need to know this One who made all things – especially ourselves – for Himself. Herein do we come to know the real meaning of life itself. And to His glory, He has not left us with a clear witness.

What a humbling and informative admonition this is. “Walk in the manner of the ant.”

1 – As vs. 7 notes – this lowliest of creatures, the tiny emmet is a wonder. And God’s wisdom is displayed even here, in that even ants do not need a commander or an overseer in order to act according to God’s purposes. By instinct they do what sinful man fails to – act according to their created nature. We, have fallen from ours. And how little do we take personal responsibility for living unto God as we ought.

In our day, the plague of fatherless homes and compromised leadership (both inside and outside of the Church) are often seen as the source of crippled lives. And while these circumstances are lamentable, they are not excuses. Each of us like the ant can up the burden of living as the creatures God has made us. There is no excuse for treating one another in inhumane ways – even before redemption in Christ. How much less after regeneration.

Christian, do you need others to tell you to read and study your Bible? To pray? To bind yourself to a community of Believers for fellowship, service and public worship? To battle the remnants of indwelling sin? If so, we find ourselves less than the ignoble ant. And such a rebuke ought to both sting, and goad us on to love and good works.

2 – Look at what wisdom God has placed at our disposal. How good He is! Even in the simplest things of life He has graciously supplied us with guidance and examples of abiding truths and principles. If we would but open our eyes to the wonder of Creation.

Is it any wonder then that when God addresses Job in chapters 38-41 He points Job to consider afresh the genius, the wonder, the symmetry, complexity and beauty of His works in the physical universe and its operations? No wonder Paul can remind us in Romans 1 that all men are without excuse – for God has made so very much about Himself known to all mankind – if we would but look and consider.

What a God we serve. What genius. What goodness. What beauty and order and provision He has made. Every atom shouts to us of our God.

And in salvation, Christ restores us so that we may once again bear the image of the God who made us for that purpose. That our eyes might be opened. That we might know Him. And in knowing Him, be made more like Him.

Glory!

‎Wherever you see “forbidden woman” read: TEMPTATION. In this chapter – it is specifically temptation to go beyond the bounds of what God has provided for you. Its root is dissatisfaction with God and His appointments – v15 & following.

The writer uses the figure of a “forbidden woman” because he is speaking to a young man. He is addressing him where he is, where he is most prone to fall. And for young men (typically) coming of age and full of hormonal change – sexual temptation tends to head the list.

But do not be fooled into thinking this passage has no application to you as a young or mature woman, or as an aged man. Temptation comes in whatever garb is most attractive to us at any given moment.

The forbidden woman might be compromise to get a promotion at work. Cheating for a better test score. Gossiping to get back at someone who hurt you. Building too close a relationship with a man not your husband due to your own husband’s neglect or sin against you. Over-drinking to stay part of a peer group. Failing to own Christ because of what others will think. An older couple cohabiting apart from marriage to secure better benefits financially. Going into irreversible debt to get the right house, the best car or other “toys.” Speaking up so that others will look to you as the answer man and praise your wisdom and insight. Shutting up when you ought to speak so as not to be odd man out. You get the picture.

Temptation always brings its arguments with it. Why this is good, supremely pleasurable or the best option given the situation. Its counsel is sweet at first tasting. And it promises a smoother and more blessed path than obedience to Christ and honesty.

But. But! “in the end”. This is the thing which escapes us most in temptation. Failure to consider the end of the course we are taking. It is the great lie.

So it is we see in vss. 3-6 that the unmasking of sin is one of our greatest weapons in overcoming it. Seeing it for what it really is. Stripping away the illusion. It is a constant battle, and a tactic which cannot be overestimated. We desperately need to see things as they are from God’s perspective. Real reality.

Living beyond the moment. Living with eternity in view instead. Seeing the sin for what it really is and will do in the end. These are mighty weapons in our arsenal of spiritual warfare.

May the Lord be pleased to grant us great skill in wielding them.

When contemplating any course of action, it only makes sense to ask: “Where will this take me? What is the end of what I am contemplating?” In either word or deed.

But of course, this also begs the question of whether or not I am on my way to anywhere at all!

If one were to pursue a career as a lawyer – they would plot out a course that would take them there. The right undergraduate courses in college, and then Law School. Then setting their sights on passing the Bar, and then – then the practice of Law itself. It is the same with anything in life. To be a teacher, a race car driver, an electrician – name it. But as the old saying goes, if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it – too.

Setting a course in the natural is one thing – but how many actually contemplate setting a course toward Heaven? Do we imagine we will just stumble in there someday? That “being” a Christian is the end game, the goal itself? Do we forget Jesus words: Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV) — 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Why do so few find it? Why do so few enter in? Because so few are actually looking for it and seeking to enter in.

If you are aiming at entering heaven, keep your eyes on that destination, and make the decisions which coincide with going there. Keep looking for the door of that Great City. Keep your eyes fixed on what you intend to do and be there – and who you are longing to spend eternity with.

No one will get there by accident. Only those who inquire as to The Way – Jesus – and who order their lives to go there to be with Him and the Father.

Where are you headed?

I do not know that the direct link between a life lived in honor of the Lord vs hiding secret sin has been fully explored.

The truth is, that for one who is born again, controversy with God, in an unwillingness to deal with sin leads to a psychosomatic breakdown. As a small pebble in the shoe throws the whole body off balance, so an even “small” sin (I use that phrase reluctantly, but as opposed to gross sin) will throw off the entire constitution. It will bring constant stress, touchiness due to a guilty conscience, judgmental-ism, false piety and a prayer life almost completely consumed with self.

In my Pentecostal roots I was taught that “healing is in the atonement.” What was meant by that is that as surely as when we trust Christ as our substitute for salvation – so too – physical healing from sickness and disease belongs to the Redeemed as part and parcel of our salvation. We only need to exercise faith for it.

Now I once heard Don Carson address this issue and he said (paraphrasing) “of course healing is in the atonement – and it will be found in the resurrection.” To which I can only add my yea and amen. But that physical healing is “the children’s right” at all times and in all cases in this present age – is brought into question all day every day by the sicknesses genuine, faith-filled brothers and sisters in Christ endure. No, we are not promised unfettered access to physical healing in this present age simply because we are Christ’s.

But. BUT!

There is a species of what we might call divine health (as opposed to divine healing) which surpasses mere deliverance from sickness and disease. It is the health of the soul, freed from guilt, shame, fear, anxiety and inner turmoil because by faith we have been united to Christ, stand clean before our God robed in Jesus’ own righteousness, perpetually cleansed from our sin – and indwelt by His own Spirit – as temple of worship unto the triune God.

It is that health of soul and mind that lives in the reality of God’s sovereignty, His absolute and inviolable promises, His love so great that He gave His only Son and that believing in Him we might have no condemnation, but eternal life. That Christ is always with us, even to the end of the age. That He who began His good work in us WILL complete it until the Day of Christ. And that every care, concern, trial, woe and experience, are all woven together by His all-wise and loving hand for our ultimate and eternal good.

That Beloved, is healing and refreshment.

This is a species of medicine that transcends any remedy we might crave for our bodies.

Agur’s prayer here is double-sided. And this, in only considering the first phrase in vs. 8.

First, it is a prayer to be kept being deceived by false teaching of any kind. It is a prayer for discernment. It is a humble prayer. He knows he does not know all, and can still be led down a wrong path. Falsehood can be so subtle and seductive. We can never guard our hearts and minds too much in this regard.

Consider the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. That had the Scriptures. They studied them assiduously. They committed them to memory. They debated them, commented on them and applied themselves to living them out. Yet deceived all the while.

So it is even today, many who come in Christ’s name in and His Church preach and teach and “prophesy” false things. May my heart be like Agur’s and plead for a discerning eye to be kept from deception.

Secondly, Agur prays that he himself may be a man of truth and integrity. He knows his own weakness. He knows in times of exposure or embarrassment, he may lie to save face. Or how at times when greed may lead to shading the truth. Perhaps in a moment of self-promotion his good deeds and accomplishments are inflated and his failures mitigated. He knows how he can try to hide his sin both from himself and God and thus live a lie.

Father, make me a man of truth. Make me one who seeks out your truth as you know it, and who seeks to proclaim your truth without embellishment, embarrassment, compromise or manipulation to make it more palatable.

Father, make me honest with my own sin before you. Hiding nothing from my own eyes let alone yours. As David prayed in Ps. 51 – how it is you delight in truth in the inward being – let the Light of your Spirit search my inward being and expose all that is there that I might not live either in self-deception nor as a hypocrite before your face and in your Church.

Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me – those of others, and those of my own.