Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs:
Our Bible verse for today: “Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister.’ And call understanding your relative. She will keep you from a forbidden woman, a stranger with her flattering talk.” Proverbs 7:4-5 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Don’t allow yourself to be deceived and misled.”
In Proverbs 7:4-27 Solomon tells a story of seduction. Here he again uses adultery/fornication as a common form of sinful behavior that people are often led into, and he uses an evil woman as the one who seduces a hapless and naïve young man to engage in conduct he should be avoiding. The evil woman represents the enticements of Satan to engage in behavior God has forbidden. The naïve young man is the person who doesn’t have the sense to live according to godly standards and with Biblical wisdom.
The story then unfolds with the evil woman seductively and progressively leading the young man deeper and deeper into sinful behavior. For his part the young man allows his lust for the woman, instead of his love for the Lord, to be the determining factor in his choices. Therefore he is led along like a lamb to the slaughter.
Taken out of the narrow context of adultery/fornication, and applied instead to the larger context of life in general, the lesson teaches that we must know God’s standards and then live by them. The allure of Satan is clever and seductive. He always makes sin seem attractive and reasonable, and he entices us with the things he knows we’ll be most likely to respond to. In the case of Proverbs 7 it’s a seductive woman deceiving a young man who gives-in to youthful lust. In my case it would probably be a half gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and a big spoon. In your case it might be something else.
Satan baits his hook according to the appetite of the fish. So it’s important for us to know where our weaknesses lie and then take steps to avoid situations where they could be exploited. There are many examples we could consider. The male sex drive is a powerful thing. Billy Graham knows this and therefore he has refused to allow himself to be alone with any woman other than his wife.
Pastors as a group are underpaid. That’s just the nature of the profession. Therefore no Pastor should ever touch church money. You don’t handle the offering; you don’t have access to any church accounts; you don’t allow people to hand you their tithes and offerings because they missed the offering plate. It has to be 100% hands-off.
Diabetics have to avoid excess sugar in their diets. Therefore it would be silly for a diabetic to work in a candy store where they have to be around candy all day long.
What about you? Where are the areas of vulnerability in your life? What are the areas in which Satan could most easily tempt you, and what are you doing to protect yourself?
It’s true that Biblical wisdom will save you from being deceived and misled by Satan. But Biblical wisdom by itself is not some sort of magic pill that you can swallow and it does the work all by itself. We have to be smart; we must implement safeguards in our lives; and we have to accept responsibility for controlling ourselves so we are not misled. If your weakness is donuts then stay out of the donut store!
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 