Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2022 16:51:26 GMT -5
Avoid the Door By: Sheridan Voysey
Click here for the Audio Message
Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house.
Proverbs 5:8
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Proverbs 5:1–14
The dormouse’s nose twitched. Something tasty was nearby. Sure enough, the scent led to a birdfeeder full of delicious seed. The dormouse climbed down the chain to the feeder, slipped through the door, and ate and ate all night. Only in the morning did he realize the trouble he was in. Birds now pecked at him through the feeder’s door, but having gorged on the seed, he was now twice his size and unable to escape.
Doors can lead us to wonderful places—or dangerous ones. A door features prominently in Solomon’s advice in Proverbs 5 on avoiding sexual temptation. While sexual sin may be enticing, he says, trouble awaits if it’s pursued (5:3–6). Best to stay far from it, for if you walk through that door you’ll be trapped, your honor lost, your wealth pecked away by strangers (vv. 7–11). Solomon counsels us to enjoy the intimacy of our own spouse instead (vv. 15–20). His advice can apply to sin more broadly too (vv. 21–23). Whether it’s the temptation to overeat, overspend, or something else, God can help us to avoid the door that leads to entrapment.
The dormouse must’ve been happy when the homeowner found him in her garden birdfeeder and freed him. Thankfully, God’s hand is also ready to free us when we’re trapped. But let’s call on His strength to avoid the door of entrapment in the first place.
Reflect & Pray
What “door” leads to your greatest temptation? How will you avoid that door today?
Almighty God, help me avoid the door that leads to entrapment.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The wisdom spoken of in the book of Proverbs is multi-faceted, so much so that in Proverbs 1:2–7 (which introduces the book) seven terms are used to reflect its breadth and brilliance: insight (v. 2)—the ability to see between issues; prudent behavior (v. 3)—wise dealing; prudence (v. 4)—good judgment or good sense; knowledge (vv. 4, 7); discretion (v. 4)—the ability to plan ahead and plot a course of action with foresight; learning and guidance (v. 5).
Another way of viewing these wisdom qualities is to see them as wisdom’s companions, similar to attendants at a wedding ceremony. Where wisdom goes, they go, for they are ever-connected to her. See Proverbs 8:12–14 for wisdom’s own testimony about some of her companions.
Arthur Jackson
Proverbs 5:1-14
King James Version
5 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
Click here for the Audio Message
Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house.
Proverbs 5:8
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Proverbs 5:1–14
The dormouse’s nose twitched. Something tasty was nearby. Sure enough, the scent led to a birdfeeder full of delicious seed. The dormouse climbed down the chain to the feeder, slipped through the door, and ate and ate all night. Only in the morning did he realize the trouble he was in. Birds now pecked at him through the feeder’s door, but having gorged on the seed, he was now twice his size and unable to escape.
Doors can lead us to wonderful places—or dangerous ones. A door features prominently in Solomon’s advice in Proverbs 5 on avoiding sexual temptation. While sexual sin may be enticing, he says, trouble awaits if it’s pursued (5:3–6). Best to stay far from it, for if you walk through that door you’ll be trapped, your honor lost, your wealth pecked away by strangers (vv. 7–11). Solomon counsels us to enjoy the intimacy of our own spouse instead (vv. 15–20). His advice can apply to sin more broadly too (vv. 21–23). Whether it’s the temptation to overeat, overspend, or something else, God can help us to avoid the door that leads to entrapment.
The dormouse must’ve been happy when the homeowner found him in her garden birdfeeder and freed him. Thankfully, God’s hand is also ready to free us when we’re trapped. But let’s call on His strength to avoid the door of entrapment in the first place.
Reflect & Pray
What “door” leads to your greatest temptation? How will you avoid that door today?
Almighty God, help me avoid the door that leads to entrapment.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The wisdom spoken of in the book of Proverbs is multi-faceted, so much so that in Proverbs 1:2–7 (which introduces the book) seven terms are used to reflect its breadth and brilliance: insight (v. 2)—the ability to see between issues; prudent behavior (v. 3)—wise dealing; prudence (v. 4)—good judgment or good sense; knowledge (vv. 4, 7); discretion (v. 4)—the ability to plan ahead and plot a course of action with foresight; learning and guidance (v. 5).
Another way of viewing these wisdom qualities is to see them as wisdom’s companions, similar to attendants at a wedding ceremony. Where wisdom goes, they go, for they are ever-connected to her. See Proverbs 8:12–14 for wisdom’s own testimony about some of her companions.
Arthur Jackson
Proverbs 5:1-14
King James Version
5 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.