Proverbs 1:8-19
Proverbs 1:8-19
New King James Version (NKJV)
Shun Evil Counsel
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother;
9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
And chains about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
13 We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
14 Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
16 For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
18 But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.
My Thoughts:
- So let’s start with (v. 12) we read “Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit;”
- Sheol is a name given to a place of death or grave. Sin take our lives away and we become something else, something that God never meant for us to be. Once we give in to sin, death takes over and we become nothing more than one more lost soul.
- In (v. 17) we read “Surely, in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird;”
- It does not take a degree to see the pitfalls of sin, and Solomon is telling the reader that even a bird with his small brain can see it.
- Neither man nor the devil can make us sin, all they can do is they to persuade us to follow, in the end we must choose to sin (Rom. 6:13).
- Let’s finish with (v. 19) “So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners”
- I like this book because is grounded in the lives and problems of real people and in this verse the teacher brings his point home: he is warning here that sin will bring its own consequences in this life as well as in the day of Judgment.(Rom. 6:23; James 1:14, 15).
“The fear of God is the beginning of true worship”
As a farm boy in North Dakota, I often had a sense of awe when I looked at the sky on a clear day or when I listened to the rolling thunder of an approaching storm. God seemed so great, and I felt so small. I often had the same feeling when I entered the church sanctuary or heard my father pray. Today, though, I admit that at times I tend to be quite casual when I think of God, pray, study the Bible, or engage in worship.
When we assemble to worship, sing, pray, and listen to the message, we often do these things half-heartedly and with little sense of the fear of God. Ecclesiastes 5 speaks to those issues and warns us not to make promises to God carelessly and superficially!
We are inclined to hear only part of what God is saying to us through His Word. But genuine hearing includes careful listening accompanied by obedience. Unkept vows are also a serious matter (Pr 1:2,4, 5, 6). Just as many dreams have no basis in reality, the careless speech of the fool in God’s presence is empty (Pr 1:3,7).
Always keep in mind how great and holy God is, and how small and sinful we are. Thank Him for His mercy and grace. This solemn contemplation of the Lord’s character will help us obey the admonition to “fear God” (Pr 1:7). —Herbert Vander Lugt (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
A house of worship is a place
For praise and reverent prayer;
Let holy thoughts your spirit fill
Each time you enter there. –Bosch
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- What do you think (vv. 8, 9) are saying?
- What other things do you see in the text?
Prayer Activities
- Call your Partner and discuss this devotional.
- Continue to have a prayer list and continue to praying for them.
- Pray with them and ask for the following;
- For God to help us see our true nature and then help us change it.
- For God to give us the understanding that only though our willingness can sin enter our lives.
- For the individuals on your pray list.
- Let’s use (Psalms 59:1-3) for today’s prayer verse.
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Verses 8 an 9 are an appeal from parents to their son. “son” is generic and can and does mean child in this case. All parents want their children to grow up and be moral and upright. We worry so much about them taking up with the “wrong crowd”. The graceful ornament on the head could mean an ornament of grace and a crown of glory. This emphasizes the great value of wisdom. A person who holds wisdom in high esteem and embraces it fully will be exhalted and honored. So in other words if you use your brain and listen to your mother and fathers advise you will be held in high regard as will your parents. I know when the boys were like 2 or 3 years old and we would go out in public, I was always approached and told how good the boys behaved. This meant alot to me because I told them from day one I did not want to have the kind of kids that when people saw us coming wanted to run the other way. I was also told I was to hard on them and I should ease up. At the time I was trying to prove something having to raise them by myself. I know I made a lot of mistakes(don’t we all) but they are God’s children in the end. I pray they stay that way.
This reminds me of the Lord of the Ring, they think they posses it, but little do they realize it (greed) possess them. Sin has a way of robbing a person on themselves..their very lives at the end if they don’t realize and turn to God for help. We need to keep the bigger picture in mind… we tend to respond to the hear and now and not always give thought to where this thought or action is leading. God calls us to be thinking people and just feeling people. We choose good ar bad, life of death…choose wisely.
I agree we focus on the wrong things and we can lose sight of what is the most important to us, God, Family and Friends.