31 DAYS TO A WISER YOU: Proverbs Chapter 6

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Review

This is part of a series, studying the book of Proverbs during the month of July, 2011. For more details click here.


Theme
In chapter 6, King Solomon is all over the place, seemingly unfocused in these 35 verses.  He refers to staying out of debt/not co-signing for others on a loan, about developing and living a healthy work ethic like the ants.  He describes "worthless" people as well as 7 types of people that God detests.  He advises us to learn from our parents, to keep and develop what's been taught to us so that we can live a life pleasing to God.  And then he returns to cautioning us against the immoral woman, and the consequences of coming into a relationship with her.  Again with preaching about the damage sexual sins will cause?


It's so cool that, throughout these 31 chapters, no matter what topic is being discussed, there's one common theme - living a life worthy of being called a Christ-follower.  In fact, even if you don't have a life-changing relationship with Jesus, the common wisdom being shared will aid you in living a reduced stress life.  I would say that, of all 66 books in the Bible, the truths contained in Proverbs are most helpful in living life, whether the Holy Spirit is guiding you or not.


The beauty of these truths is that if we learn from them - digest them - they will be with us continuously.  We will not just know these truths, we will be living out these truths daily by the way we conduct ourselves.


Key Verses For Me
Proverbs 6:21 - Keep their words always in your heart.  Tie them around your neck.


Quote
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. - Galileo Galilei
Related Scriptures
2 Corinthians 3:3 - Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you.  This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.  It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.


Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for all you have done for me, and given me.  May I be wise with what resources You have granted me, and may I constantly be seeking Your favor through righteous living.  May my words and deeds be a testimony for others of a life forever changed by Your grace.
    
So what verse(s) stick out to you and why?

31 DAYS TO A WISER YOU: Proverbs Chapter 5

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Review
This is part of a series, studying the book of Proverbs during the month of July, 2011. For more details click here.


Theme
Chapter 5 is where we start to hear the sorrow of Solomon's most public transgression against God - he had relationships with too many of the wrong women.  Nehemiah 13:26 states that his marriages to foreign women were sin, in direct violation of God's will for His chosen people.  In fact, 1 Kings 11:2-3 shares that Solomon insisted on loving these women even though he knew that it violated God's commandments.  He had 700 wives and an additional 300 concubines, all of whom he had sex with at his leisure.


This chapter is focused on sexual sin.  Whether it's sex before marriage or sex inside of your marriage but with someone you aren't married to.  And that goes for physical or emotional relationships.  Sex with your spouse - and your spouse alone -  is the only God-ordained way to enjoy the physical pleasures of intimacy (vs 15-17).


His warnings about what will happen if you participate in sexual sin are clear.  You - 

1. Will lose your honor (vs 9)
2. Will lose your money/what you have worked hard for through the years (vs 10)
3. Run the risk of disease and physical agony (vs11)
4. Will face public disgrace and ruin (vs14)
5. Will become a slave to your sin (vs 22-23)

Run from sexual sin.  It's your life to lose.

Key Verses For Me
Proverbs 5:18 - Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.  Rejoice in the wife of your youth.


Quote
Love is the great conqueror of lust. C.S. Lewis


Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without.  ~ James C. Dobson


Anything worth having is worth waiting for. ~ Becky, my then girlfriend-future wife, as we began our long distance relationship right after graduating college


Related Scriptures
Ecclesiastes 9:9 - Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun.  The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.


2 Timothy 2:22A Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust.


Prayer
I want to thank you, Father, for the blessing that is my wife Becky.  I know we are together because of Your plan for both of us.  May Your protection over our marriage continue as we grow old together.     


So what verse(s) stick out to you and why?