In The Word
Read: Proverbs 6, 7
Parental Counsel
6 My son, if you have become a guarantor for your neighbor,
Or have given a handshake for a stranger,
2 If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Or caught by the words of your mouth,
3 Then do this, my son, and save yourself:
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.
4 Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you lazy one,
Observe its ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no chief,
Officer, or ruler,
8 Prepares its food in the summer
And gathers its provision in the harvest.
9 How long will you lie down, you lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 “A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest,”
11 Then your poverty will come in like a drifter,
And your need like an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
Is one who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
Who points with his fingers;
14 Who, with perversion in his heart, continually devises evil,
Who spreads strife.
15 Therefore his disaster will come suddenly;
Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
Seven that are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who declares lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers.
20 My son, comply with the commandment of your father,
And do not ignore the teaching of your mother;
21 Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light;
And rebukes for discipline are the way of life
24 To keep you from the evil woman,
From the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.
26 For the price of a prostitute reduces one to a loaf of bread,
And an adulteress hunts for a precious life.
27 Can anyone take fire in his lap
And his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can a person walk on hot coals
And his feet not be scorched?
29 So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
To satisfy himself when he is hungry;
31 But when he is found, he must repay seven times as much;
He must give up all the property of his house.
32 One who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense;
He who would destroy himself commits it.
33 He will find wounds and disgrace,
And his shame will not be removed.
34 For jealousy enrages a man,
And he will not have compassion on the day of vengeance.
35 He will not accept any settlement,
Nor will he be satisfied though you make it a large gift.
The Lures of the Prostitute
7 My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 Keep my commandments and live,
And my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend,
5 So that they may keep you from an adulteress,
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the naive,
And discerned among the youths
A young man lacking sense,
8 Passing through the street near her corner;
And he walks along the way to her house,
9 In the twilight, in the evening,
In the middle of the night and the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.
11 She is boisterous and rebellious,
Her feet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now in the public squares,
And lurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him,
And with a brazen face she says to him:
14 “I was due to offer peace offerings;
Today I have paid my vows.
15 Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
With colored linens of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning;
Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.
19 For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey.
20 He has taken a bag of money with him.
At the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hurries to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the victims she has brought to ruin,
And numerous are all those slaughtered by her.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
For Christians, God has designed a great life, and He has laid out the Ancient Path to attain that life by the Holy Spirit’s guidance using the Word of God. There is not one area of your life that God’s Word does not speak to and give guidance, but you must choose to follow that good path. If you do, then you will have the blessings that God promises. But there are enemies to God’s plan that, if followed, will destroy a person’s mind, body, finances, relationships with others, and relationship with God. Solomon named these enemies as unwise financial decisions and obligations, laziness and idleness, lust and greed, and lying and deception.
We should heed Solomon’s strong admonition, as they are the key to God’s abundant life: “My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call understanding your intimate friend” (Proverbs 7:1-4).
Take a moment to examine your life. Does it match the promises of God that have resulted from a life of consistent, wise decision-making? Or is it full of strife and trouble because of foolish choices? If it is the latter, the good news is that your life does not have to remain that way. God has given you the power of self-control to choose your path; now choose wisely.