ResponsiveReiding

Proverbs 15:24 The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.

A concept revisited over and over in Proverbs is that of seeing life as going somewhere, not just being lived. The Bible never sees mere existence as legitimate for human beings. We are meant to be people of purpose.

The naturalistic worldview posits that all of human life – indeed all of life period is nothing more than a cosmic accident. That there is no rhyme or reason to anything existing, let alone human life as distinct not only from other organic life – but any other substance. We are simply an animated substance and that, by chance.

It was Henry David Thoreau (Civil Disobedience and Other Essays – 1849) who wrote: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” And if the naturalistic worldview is correct, there is no other way to live life. It began without purpose, prattles along without purpose, and ends without purpose. Even Thoreau’s “song” has no purpose, other than meaningless self-expression. Little more than the belch from a well fed stomach.

How far from this is the Biblical worldview. The “prudent” live a life that is leading “upward.” It is the picture of one on a journey with a deliberate termination point – and that, beyond “Sheol” or the grave. The one who has had their eyes opened to the reality of the living God and our relationship to Him first in creation and then redemption in Jesus Christ – has set their sights on arriving in His presence as their goal. Nothing ought to be quietly desperate about us – but every moment infused with hope and the knowledge that having been created in God’s image, and for those in Christ, in the process of being re-created in that image – this is but one stage of the journey. Determinative certainly, but final – never.

There was an old poem later put into song which carried the refrain:

There’s a Heaven to gain, and a Hell to shun;
The way is still straight, there’s a race to be run.
You can live as you please, but you must pay the cost;
And the highway to Heaven still goes by the cross.

That’s true. And the Prudent live their lives knowing it.

Let me ask you, are you deliberately going to Heaven? Living your life on purpose, or just existing?

Proverbs 14:8 The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving.

The wise man is forever asking the question: Where will this take me? The fool doesn’t ask, because he doesn’t want to know. He wants to deceive himself into justifying falling into sin. But this is also the very place where the Christian finds great rejoicing. The Puritan Richard Baxter once said: “Once you have a God, a Christ, a heaven to rejoice in, you may rationally indulge a constant joy.” The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, and if that way is following Christ; if that way is the road to Heaven through the Gospel; if that way will result in being in the unveiled presence of our glorious Christ and Savior – our Savior and Lord, for ever – it is time to begin to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory! The only right word is – hallelujah!

Proverbs 14:9 Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance.

Every young person knows the sting of being thought of as silly, for paying attention to spiritual truths. So be it. Better to be accepted by God, than by millions of adoring fans. Let others mock at the “guilt offering”. They will mock us for feeling guilt at all, or for thinking that the sacrifice of Christ can remove that guilt. Either way – the Scripture says they are the fools. Let fools say what they will about your dependence upon Christ’s blood to meet your need in satisfying God for your guilt, you have The Father’s full acceptance. Their rejection is worth it. Better to have His acceptance than theirs. And if you are accepted in the Beloved – you are accepted indeed.

Proverbs 14:14 (ESV) — 14 The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.

Throw off God’s yoke, and you will be full all right – full of filth and grime and all manner of sin and its effects.

Yield to His yoke, and in due time, an entire harvest of good things will be yours in the Spirit. Sin always begins with the neglect of what is ours in Christ, shrinking back (backsliding) from those holy habits that bring us repeatedly into His presence and into contact with the Gospel truths that transform our lives by the power of the Spirit. The heart desires to be filled. This is as we were designed. But what we pursue to fill it, makes the difference between Heaven and Hell.

Proverbs 14:15 The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.

What do you believe, and why? These are questions that the Foolish never seem to put together. Many a man knows his “opinions.” He is acquainted with at least some of what he believes. But does he examine the reasons behind why he believes them to be true? The Wise are always about this business. They know that ideas have consequences. They examine and re-examine their own thoughts and views and take them back to the Word of God over and over for refinement and scrutiny. Even the Christian who never questions what he believes and why proves to be “simple.” And that is not a complimentary term. It comes from a word which implies someone who will believe anything – in other words – gullible. Christians are not to be gullible but discerning. Contrary to the World’s definition of faith – we don’t just “believe” as though believing anything makes it true or useful. Faith is the reasoned response of the one whose eyes have been opened to know that God has spoken to us in His Word and in His Son, and believing what God has said is true, orders their life accordingly. Be a thinking man or woman of God.

Proverbs 14:23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Here is the bankruptcy of mere “talk therapy”. One needs to act, not talk only. One needs even less to endlessly rehearse their woes in the ears of others. If you are not doing something about your problems, but merely discussing them with your friends and complaining – do not expect any progress. DO something if you can. Otherwise, you do nothing else but aggravate your own soul, and drag others into it. You will foster doubt, unbelief and bitterness in your own heart, and run the risk of infecting others with the same. Even prayer by itself is only talk, where action is called for. We must never do less than pray, but often must do much more. One needs not to just pray for a job, they need to go look for work. Don’t just pray that your marriage improve, learn to love and bless your spouse. Don’t get together and talk with others or even just pray about your Church, dig in and help build up others in Christ.

In every conquest of Canaan in the Old Testament, though God had promised the land to His people and told them He would fight for them and drive out the inhabitants, they STILL needed to raise the sword and actually go into battle.

So it is with our sins too. We cannot just pray them away – we must take all Scripture informed means to prosecute a war against them and prevent them from holding sway over us. This, by the power of the Spirit, believing that He will give us the victory if we will pursue in obedience to His Word, will see us bring them one by one under His hand. Fight on Christ. Do not do less than pray – pray always. But don’t stop there – fight! God has promised victory to those who cross over and pursue.

Proverbs 14:2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.

Here is another excellent contrast that deepens our understanding of the “fear of the Lord.” The language is most insightful. The contrast in this place is easy to see – to fear the Lord is to take Him seriously – and to despise Him or treat Him lightly is the opposite course. No one “fears the Lord” by simply carrying out religious rituals and practices. They fear the Lord when they acknowledge that what God says carries weight with them – it influences decisively how they feel and how they understand truth. To call oneself a Christian, and yet to consider God’s Word little more than good advice is in fact to despise Him. And for those who DO fear Him, it will show itself in uprightness of life.

Proverbs 14:5 A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.

We must bear honest witness about Christ. Have we been saved by Him? Is He our redeemer? Have we truly been bought by Him and have become partakers of His salvation? To claim to be a Christian and yet to be unregenerate – to have never been born again – is to bear false witness. It is to say “Christ has saved me” – when He has done nothing of the sort. Do you believe Him? Have you trusted Him as your substitute on the Cross, owning that God’s wrath is what YOU were due, and that He bore it in your place?

A second aspect of this is that must bear honest witness about what Christ has done in other things beyond salvation. He does not need us to make up things about Him. To exaggerate about His goodness or to claim works for Him He has not done – nor to fail to make known His goodness to us. Many think they need to puff Him up in the eyes of others; and then some fail to make Him known at all. Both must repent and bear honest and true witness about Him.

And thirdly, we must bear honest witness about ourselves. We are so unwilling to be seen and thought of as sinners, failures, etc. Christ came to save the lost, not the righteous. If we will not own the truth about ourselves TO ourselves first, and then to others – we seek to be saved by some other means, and we have no true salvation. To need to look a certain way in the eyes of others (irrespective of how we truly are before God) is the height of hypocrisy.

Proverbs 14:6 A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.

The “scoffer” is one who is scornful of others, and never attains to the insight he or she believes they have into the souls of others. Scornfulness is an attempt to elevate self at the expense of the de-elevation of others. So it is the scoffer’s perspective must always be skewed, for their measure of self is all rooted in comparison to others – and others are not the standard – Christ is! As a result, they feel better about themselves as they look down on others, and all the while lose more and more of reality by not looking intently at Christ. Holy Spirit – keep our eyes fixed upon Christ that we might walk in the truth.

Proverbs 14:7 Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

Do not spend time taking up the thinking of people who speak, live and perpetuate nonsense. Fools are practical atheists. They may claim to be deists or even Christians, but in their thinking and attitudes – for all intents and purposes, they reason and live as though there is no God. Leave them. They cannot impart knowledge of a Christ they do not know or worship. Fools say in their hearts (even though they may profess the contrary) that there really is no God. At least not the God of the Bible. Not a God who created all things by the Word of His power; or who rules His creation actively; or who is holy and must judge sin; or who gave His Son as a ransom for human sin, so that all who put their trust in Him might be forgiven and have everlasting life; or who will at last vanquish all of His enemies and consign them to an eternal Hell. For to deny such truths, is to deny God. And fools, deny God.

But as the old Puritan John Flavel once noted: “the most eagle-eyed philosophers [are] but children in knowledge, compared with the most illiterate Christians.” Why? Because to know the truth about who we are in the universe, and the salvation of our eternal souls in Christ – is knowledge that will give us all the glories of God in Christ Jesus for eternity. What a glorious God we serve, who saves the weak, the broken, the deficient – all by His wonderful grace. And bestows His lavish riches upon the meanest of all – simply by grace through faith. Else, none of us would be saved.

Proverbs 14:1 The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.

Is the Church as the wise woman about the business of building the Church – laboring WITH Christ in His goal? Or are we guilty of sometimes breaking it down with our own hands? If we would be a part of His purpose and plan in building His Church – here are some of the things we’ll need to keep in mind:

(2) It will take an upright walk.

(3) It will take imbibing God’s Wisdom.

(4) It will be messy.

(5) It must be built upon the Truth.

(6) It increases in the knowledge of Christ.

(7) It require we reject foolishness.

(8) It will take a Bible-saturated vision for the future.

(9) It require placing much weight upon the reality of sin and God’s sacrifice for in Christ Jesus.

(10) It takes knowing not everyone will share in our joy or sorrow in its increase and stumbling.

(11) It takes faith to believe it will succeed.

(12) It rejects worldly means for spiritual ones.

(13) It knows sorrow will attend its progress.

(14) It recognizes that some will pull back from joining the labor.

(15) It takes knowing that some things are true, and others are not.

(16) It is built by those who are cautious about falling into evil.

(17) It knows that rashness and fits of anger are counter to its aim.

(18) It understands this is a wisdom the world does not understand.

(19) It thrives on trusting in Christ’s final victory.

(20) It understands the real wealth is has to give to the world in the Gospel.

(21) It rejects a mindset that fails to value those made in God’s image.

(22) It trusts Christ will attend them in their faithfulness.

(23) It must conspire to bless mankind in Christ.

(24) It knows its wealth is in the King of Glory.

(25) It avoids deceit.

(26) It fears the Lord, and so fear little else like culture or politics.

(27) It thrives on knowing it King’s true power and position is not to be triffled with.

(28) It seeks to glorify its King in bringing more to Him.

(29) It walks in holy, divine patience.

(30) It thrive on the tranquility of being secure in the Savior.

(31) It remains generous with its bestowments.

(32) It abides when all else passes away.

(33) It informs the whole of the one who knows Christ as God’s wisdom.

(34) It seeks a Kingdom built upon God’s own righteousness in Christ.

(35) It trusts that that in following Christ, it walks in the favor of the Living God.

Hell is an uncomfortable subject. As it should be. No one ought to be light and trite at the thought of it. But it is a reality of Biblical teaching, and one that needs to be thought through carefully and prayerfully.

My purpose here is not to unpack the totality of Biblical teaching on the nature of eternal judgment. Rather, owing to a question I recently received regarding someone struggling with the “justness” of Hell, I just want to advance a few Biblical concepts to help us frame our thinking on the topic a bit more evenly.

There is no need to try and tame, tone down or de-fang Hell as it is portrayed in the Bible. It’s horrors are beyond us. It is meant to be a terrifying prospect. We are warned against it in the most graphic and severe of terms. At the same time Hell is to be understood within the full scope of the Biblical teaching on it, not just a few of the more shocking (and they SHOULD be shocking) passages addressing it.

Four thoughts:

1. Let me begin by making sure we understand that Hell is not an egalitarian or “one-size-fits-all” proposition.

God is just. As just, He can neither over-punish, nor under-punish anyone. Whatever judgments are meted out in the final analysis must be perfectly fitting both to the crime, and to the criminal. We know this by several different means. First, the way the Old Testament sets out very specific penalties for various sins under various conditions. Even the killing of another human being is treated in several different ways: Was it premeditated? Was it in the heat of passion? Was it the result of an injury but the killer was not intending to take the life? Was it an accident? Was it in self-defense? Was it in the act of protecting another? Was it in war? And several more. Now if God’s Law accounted for such differences, and held different treatments, we may safely assume He does the same in this regard.

Secondly, many fail to take into account Jesus’ own teaching on the subject of judgment when He returns, such as in Luke 12:42–48 “And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

Now I think this speaks directly to the idea of those who never even heard the Gospel in verse 48. The one who did not “know” the Master’s will, is not punished like the one who did, and rejected it. We must be clear here, it does not mean they are saved, but it DOES indicate the experience of their eternal separation from Him will have gradations due at least in part to what they knew. So we can trust Him to be just.

2. Additionally, all of us need to consider whether or not we can humbly admit that it is improper for us in our fallen condition, to judge God in His justness, when ours is skewed due to the Fall. He is never to be judged by us. And if we ARE judging Him, we are in fact making ourselves God, and saying He has to be answerable to our fallen notions of justice. Will we allow that perhaps His justice is higher and less fallible than ours, and again trust that He will be TRULY just in when He judges each and every one? We must do this. As creatures of the Creator, we need to assume our rightful place, and run from trying to usurp His place like we have been doing since the Fall. Remember the lie “you will be like God knowing good and evil.”

3. We also have to note that people are not in Hell because they didn’t hear the Gospel, but because we are all fallen in Adam – and, as Romans 1 points out in no uncertain terms – for rejecting what CAN be known about God as revealed in the creation. Everyone is without excuse because by virtue of creation we have incontrovertible evidence that God exists, and that as Creator has absolute rights over His creatures, and that we do not serve Him. In fact we naturally repress the knowledge of Him. And we KNOW we do not serve Him properly because we sin even against our consciences, which conscience is a remnant of having been made in His image. So there is no one who is “innocent” in that way. Yet again, there is gradation here. Jesus says it will more tolerable in the Day of Judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for those who heard the Gospel and rejected it. (Matt. 10:14-15) What that will look like in the varying experiences of those involved, no one can say with specificity. The details are not revealed to us beyond the reality that some difference does exist. Either way, we can trust Him to do what is right by each of them, individually and corporately.

4. Lastly, it might be good to explore our sense of how severe sinfulness is, compared to how God views its severity. One of the effects of the Fall (the noetic effects) is that we have a dimmer view both of holiness and of sin. Holiness doesn’t seem so high, and sinfulness doesn’t seem so bad. Because we are skewed in this way, it sometimes seems as though God is going overboard. A useful analogy might be that it is like dealing with someone who for medical reasons has their perceptions skewed.

I remember reading about Ciguatera a few years ago. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) web site has this entry: “Ciguatera fish poisoning (or ciguatera) is an illness caused by eating fish that contain toxins produced by a marine microalgae called Gambierdiscus toxicus. Barracuda, black grouper, blackfin snapper, cubera snapper, dog snapper, greater amberjack, hogfish, horse-eye jack, king mackerel, and yellowfin grouper have been known to carry ciguatoxins. People who have ciguatera may experience nausea, vomiting, and neurologic symptoms such as tingling fingers or toes. They also may find that cold things feel hot and hot things feel cold. Ciguatera has no cure. Symptoms usually go away in days or weeks but can last for years. People who have ciguatera can be treated for their symptoms.”

So if a neurotoxin like this can make cold things feel hot, and hot things feel cold – when you are dealing with someone who is suffering under the influence of it, their responses (like thinking the ice water you just gave them is boiling hot) make sense to THEM in their state, but are the opposite of what the normal person experiences. Since the Fall, we live in an abnormal world. Fallenness is normative to us because we’ve never lived in any other environment. But it was not the norm in creation, and will not remain the norm when Christ returns and restores the Kingdom fully. It will never be the norm again for all eternity – perfect holiness will be.

We need to take our view of what SHOULD be our response to sin and holiness from God who is NOT afflicted with sinful distortions, rather than believing our own sinful distortions, even though they are what in fact we do perceive. We judge ourselves as the abnormal, and God as the normal in order to see what is true actuality. A bit like a pilot trusting his instruments in the fog, rather than his subjective feeling of being upright or upside down. The Word gives us the real picture, and when it feels off, it is because our perceptions are off, not the Word.

That being the case, we need once again to trust that He cannot err. He cannot be unjust. He must do what is right and holy – and if it doesn’t fit with our paradigm right now, someday, it will.

Hell is Hell. The Bible presents it as eternal, irreversible torment away from the presence of God and His mercy and grace in Christ. The imagery is designed to be horrific, offensive and off-putting so that no one takes it lightly. It is right for one to recoil at its representations and to desire to find out why it is so horrific and just in God’s eyes, and to flee to Christ for deliverance from it, once its justice is understood. At the same time, Hell must be just – for it is the place of God’s judgment and He must be just. He cannot be any other way. So it is we can trust Him fully in how He uses this instrument of His final judgment. No one, NO ONE can suffer more than what is just, and no one, NO ONE can suffer less. It will be perfectly adapted to the desert of each individual. Sorrowfully, most (if not all of us) judge ourselves less guilty and sinful than we really are, and God far less holy that He really is. So we think – for us – it won’t be so bad. And we are wrong.

The final question is – what is your eternal destination?  Will Heaven for you be the presence of Christ? If not, you demonstrate the skewed nature of your perceptions, and you need to let God’s Word tell you the truth, so that you might flee to Christ to understand both your sin and its just punishment, and the remedy for your guilt and rebellion against the Living God in the Cross, and the One who died for human sin there. The Gospel is that all who believe in Him might be forgiven and reconciled to God in Him.

Proverbs 2:1-4 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,

Christians are really good at making Christianity complicated. It really isn’t. Following Christ is relatively simple. However simple does not directly translate into easy or without effort. But simple is good because we tend to stick with what we grasp best. So it is these few short verses introduce us to three things which show themselves as absolutely necessary to true understanding (i.e. seeing all things as God does) and growing close to the Father.

1. Knowing and TREASURING God’s Word. “Keeping” God’s Word throughout Scripture is not as much a matter of observing the letter of it, as it is seeing it as precious, valuing it. That which is precious to us, will capture our devotion. But we cannot highly (or better, rightly) value what we know little about. If I do not know either the potency of a medicine, or my need for it, I won’t be interested in using it. I’ve never been tempted to just go to the drug store, amble through the aisles and then suddenly be seized with the overwhelming desire to try a medication I don’t need. But if I am ill, and I know the cure is available, I will do what it takes, spend what it costs to obtain it. Fortunately, just reading the Bible both establishes my desperate need of the Christ it portrays, and then also parades Him before me in all of His redemptive glory so that I can have that need met. Nothing else known to man does such a thing. But I cannot know the value of the Word, apart from hearing and understanding the Christ of the Word and what He has done for me in His incarnation, death, burial and resurrection. And the more time I spend digging out that treasure, the more I grasp its true value.

2. But getting into God’s Word is not some mere intellectual exercise. Seeking to understand God’s Word, studying it – not simply preserving it like an ancient artifact is the second thing I need to consider. Having a Ming vase that is never used AS a vase, but merely as a work of art, is the picture. Many approach God’s Word this way. They know it is “precious” but precious in the sense that it is to be put on a self and admired – but not as though it is to be employed in the fabric and situations of every day life. We cannot approach God’s Word in this way and hope to be truly impacted by it. We must study it not as a curiosity, but as the study of life itself. We must employ it. It will resist being turned into a religious, social or intellectual artifact. And when it is treated that way, it becomes dull, irrelevant and useless. Yes, this takes work. Looking up words I don’t know. Reading more than singled out verses but discovering entire thought streams, concepts, arguments, symbols, historical portraits of people and events, and the message all of this is meant to convey through its various tributaries. Who said what to whom, when, where and why makes it all come alive. How every page opens up some new glimpse into the heart, mind, purposes and work of our God and Saviour. These are all there for taking – but not for the taking without the digging.

3. Prayer. If we are not interacting personally and regularly with our Lord – we cannot hope either to understand Him, or His Word. We must never allow knowledge about Him eclipse firsthand knowledge OF Him in living discourse. Lose this aspect, and religion freezes into form and mere doctrine at best, and random subjectivity at worst. Learn to just sit and discuss your life with Him like a friend. Tell Him about your cares, concerns, joys, fears, losses, expectations, family, friends and desires. Confide in Him. Ask Him for His Spirit’s assistance in reading and understanding His Word. Bring your cold heart to Him to re-warm and bring it back to life. Tell Him your doubts. He has big shoulders, infinite shoulders. You cannot overburden Him, take up too much of His time or tell Him too much trivia. He loves you. He delights just being with you. He loves to lighten your burdens by having you share them with Him. Any topic, any amount of time, any place, any time, any thought. Learn to live life with Him in the everyday realities of life, and you will soon learn how you are never alone – and always, ALWAYS invited to sit and unload. No apologies necessary. No ego to damage. No confusion or sorrow too great. No deaf ear. Free and open welcome. And willing to answer far more than any of us dare to ask.

Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

It’s not Scripture – but the saying “to be forewarned is to be forearmed” is nonetheless true. And one of the chief aims of The Holy Spirit in giving us the Proverbs is to arm God’s people with weapons to use against sin. One of those weapons is to unmask sin so that we grasp how it works, and how it reasons. Sin’s power is in “enticement”. And every enticement, every inducement to act contrary to the will of God bring some rationale along with it. Some form of argument and reason(s) why entering into any given sin is a better idea at the moment than not.

The word translated “entice” in this passage comes from a root meaning to open up, to create a hole or opening of some kind. In terms of temptation to sin, it implies making an opening in the heart and mind to consider and pursue some action we would be closed to previously. HOW it entices – how it makes this opening for itself is the focus of verses 11-14 in chapter 1, followed by ways to close that door in verses 16-18. The design is to give us the tools to recognize when we’re being talked into sin, and then another set to extricate ourselves from being talked into it. Talked into it either by others, or by our own deceptive hearts and minds.

So here are some of the attractive means that are used to open us up to sin. What may appeal to you may not appeal to another and vice versa. But there is no shortage of means:

a. (11) Danger. The thrill of possibly getting caught, getting dangerously close to the edge, pushing the boundaries is sufficient motive to goad some into actions that without that element would not even be on the radar. Is this you?

b. (11) Excitement. Youth especially is drawn to things which are exciting and abhor the boring. And then again in stages of life when we are bored, dissatisfied or disillusioned. Times like that make some especially vulnerable. The high experienced by a proposed new thrill can lead to places we would have never thought before. An unexpected message on Facebook. An old flame suddenly makes contact. The idea of just having a night out to “party” and have a little “life” again. Perhaps this is where you are right now.

c. (11) Randomness – careless abandon. Doing something on a lark, completely spontaneously without any forethought can be such an instantaneous trap that few temptable in this way escape the idea once implanted. Sins of opportunity that just suddenly present themselves can make short work of many who have been used to a lifestyle carefully guarded and regimented. Then, all at once, without warning or seeking, a secret desire is appealed to with a random opportunity to fulfill it, and tragedy follows immediately behind. I pray this is not you.

d. (12) Power. Especially if we have been through a season of powerlessness, confronted by unchangeable circumstances that we resent. Then almost any chance to exert some form of power, especially over someone else if we have been victims in any way – can swallow someone whole. Sins against others emerge in the most vicious ways under the sway of this enticement. And once indulged in, it escalates rapidly. May you are in that place right now?

e. (13) Some perceived gain that mimics wealth. All of us have those things inside, perhaps not even consciously voiced which seem like the purest gold to us. Some individual’s affection. The possession of an object or position in life. An experience. A previously unfulfilled desire from a spouse. Approval from a withholding parent. To be thought of a certain way by others. The one “thing” that if we had it, would finally make us feel truly wealthy and complete – and without leaves us feeling bereft and cheated. And then the possibility of obtaining it presents itself – and irrespective of the dangers, sinfulness of the method or anything else can’t dissuade us from acting. Maybe this is where you find yourself this very moment.

f. (14) Belonging, brotherhood – fellowship. Thinking that someone, some relationship, some society can fill the unfillable void within. And you are the puppet of any idea, group or person who pretends to be able to fill soothe that ache. Is that you today?

These are ways, created openings sin uses to gain control and reign in our hearts and minds. And Proverbs faithfully reveals their hidden barbs in this passage.

Thankfully, The Spirit didn’t end just in exposing these traps, He goes on to give us 4 remarkable means to deliver ourselves from these allurements.

They are at once simple, and overlooked and underutilized.

a. (16) Consider the evil of it. Wait. Wait and think. And think about the evil that hides behind the temptation. Not pausing, thinking and considering finds us prey in the traps of sin more than any other thing. Hold that word before you say it. Consider the impact, the consequences, the motive behind it. Think about what it means to do evil.

b. (16) Find compassion for the victim(s). There is in reality no such thing as a victimless sin. For if I am joined to all others in Christ, I cannot be the means of imbibing the contagion of sin without it impacting all the others I am connected to in Christ. We never sin alone. And compassion on our brothers and sisters in the Lord is a powerful antidote to falling into many a sin. How dare we drag them along with us into that morass? How dare we make others in any way, the victims of our sinful acts?

c. (17) It’s foolish – stupid. Shame has one main role – to be so uncomfortable as to cause us to retreat when we act or think in ways that are beneath us. When we consciously choose to act like we are not who we are in Christ. That is shameful. It is not shameful to err, to trip and fall, to make a mistake. It IS shameful to refuse to act as image bearers of the Living God.

d. (17-18) The end of this pursuit, is death. To stop and think about the reality that without exception – the wages of sin is death. And that to participate willingly in those things – the guilt and stain of which Christ died to free us from – says in effect says to Him – “here, feel some more pain on my behalf. As long as I get to go free.”

Such horror ought to make us recoil. But in the thoughtless moments of temptation – such thoughts are woefully far from us. May the Spirit be pleased to come along side and bring them streaming back into our minds – so as to live in the freedom He died to secure for us.

All that said – think then on what a wonderful Savior we have – who has not only paid the penalty for all our sin, but then also counsels us and walks with us and empowers us that we may learn the holy skill of walking with Him. What a Savior!

Proverbs 13:21 Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

RAF: As a result of our fallen condition – disaster chases us all. Trials come to all of us, whether we are God’s people in Christ or not. But those who have found righteousness in Christ, find those difficulties redeemed for their good. Herein is the vast distinction between those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and those not. And this is specifically one of the ways God chooses to mark the difference between the two.

When Moses was charged with leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, the Lord determined it be done through a series of judgments poured out on the Egyptians in the form of 10 plagues.  The first 3 of these were universally felt in the whole land. The plagues of the water turned to blood, the infestation of the frogs and then that of the gnats appear to have troubled the Israelites as well as the Egyptians. It isn’t until the 4^th plague – that of the flies, that the texts notes: “But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. 23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.” ’ ” (Exodus 8:22–23)

As Christians, we live as much in a fallen world as all those who are not – a world groaning under the first pains of God’s judgment upon humanity and the earth due to sin. But that is not the end of the story. At some point God lets His distinction between the lost and the redeemed known. While disaster continues to pursue the Unbeliever, the righteous find reward with God. We are not given up to the disasters, but rather find ourselves given the means to experience the very same plagues as part and parcel of God’s deliverance.

For instance – Christians can endure times of economic crisis as opportunities to be separated from the World’s value system, and to cling to spiritual things instead. Christians can face times of natural disaster as reminding them of the temporary nature of this natural world, and to long only for the permanence and glory of Heaven. Death itself which will eventually come to us all (should Christ tarry), is converted from the portal to eternal judgment, into the entrance to our eternal reward.

The plagues may be seen and felt by all – but the Believer knows them as means of God’s deliverance, as well as judgment. And thus we are allowed to rejoice in what others can only dread.

What a great God we serve!

Proverbs 13:25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

RAF: Adam and Eve had everything. Literally. Everything bar one. A single tree marked out by God whose fruit they were to refrain from. And still they were not content. Heaven help me, for I still suffer from their disease.

The truth is, lack of contentment with God’s provision is a sign that wicked desires are ruling one’s heart. If we are not content with His providential provisions, we must ask ourselves why? What is it that is so important that we are driven to distraction until we get it? What is it that we “think” we are missing out on that is so necessary to our well-being? More, as Hebrews 13:5 reminds us: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Did you catch the comparison there? The Spirit did not tell us “just be content without” – but to be content “with” what we have. And what does He go on to say we have? Him! The One who has said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Be content with the Creator and Maker of all things, and you can never suffer lack. It is the lie that we are lacking some-THING, when we have the very source of ALL things, the some-ONE with us at all times and in all places. What a glorious reality! And oh, how we need to learn to mortify these lusts by the Spirit, in reveling in Who is ours.

Holy Spirit – satisfy us with revelations of the glories of Christ.