Prescribing Proverbs – RX Seven – August 7th

PRESCRIBING PROVERBS
August 7, 2021

A Proverb a day keeps Untruth away

Proverbs 1:1-6, ‘These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king—written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; a manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; to teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There’s something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.’ (MSG)

Prescription (RX) Seven: Non-sense

Proverbs 7:6-12, ‘As I stood at the window of my house looking out through the shutters, watching the mindless crowd stroll by, I spotted a young man without any sense arriving at the corner of the street where she lived, then turning up the path to her house. It was dusk, the evening coming on, the darkness thickening into night. Just then, a woman met him—she’d been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him. Brazen and brash as she was, restless and roaming, never at home, walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town.’ (MSG)

I guess I never realized until writing this series, how much Proverbs had to say about ‘THAT woman’! There are CHAPTERS on the promiscuous woman, the seductress, the temptress and prostitute She is the woman leading every male away, down a thorny path to a no-good ending, lost in a forest of lies, tangled in vines of promiscuity, drowning in an ocean of lust and blinded by non-sense (no sense), unable to any longer think or reason for himself.

But I think also it is safe to say that this is the picture of not just a wayward woman leading a blinded man away, taking him by surprise, but rather people in general who capitalize on the vulnerabilities of others. Perhaps it is the bully who preys on the meek or youth taking advantage of the elderly; maybe it is an abusive man who wields his power over women and children; or could it be the thirst for success blinded by their own financial or professional status who have stepped on others not as lucrative on their climb up ladders to an empire of fortune? Whatever the case may be, we as human beings have the ability born in us to make choices of who we are going to be and who not to be. We can choose to not be one to take advantage of and tempt others into stumbling, and not to be one who stumbles and is risked and polluted by the enticement of appetites of lusts and ambitions for fame.
I think the truth in these verses reminds us to be discerning and not to be led away on whims, fancies and fascinations out of our control. There will always be someone lying in wait to snare us. Remember, misery loves company, so there will always be another attempting to bring us down to their depth of despair and degradation. However, it is up to us whether we fall. And if we choose wisdom and being wise, godly counsel and, of course, the Lord, over all else, then we won’t find ourselves tripped up or entangled in a web of coercion or lured into a den of deceit. Never forget, Beautiful You, YOU get to choose who you are and where you go and who goes with you.

I encourage you to do your own study of Proverbs as well as follow along with me! How it works: take a Proverb a day (there are 31, so perfect for the month of August) and read the chapter that corresponds with the day. Then stop on a verse that grips your attention. Focus on the verse(s) for the day as it is highly possible the Holy Spirit is speaking to you through what He helped you unearth. It’s almost like a Treasure Hunt! I will share with you this month Golden Nuggets the Holy Spirit leads me to, and I would love to have you share with me what He reveals to you in your mining excavation also!