January 5, 2008

Today's Reading - Proverbs 5
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Following Scripture Verses

1. 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 twoedged 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.
15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
22. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Today's Pathway:
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That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. - Proverbs 5:2

In today's verse Solomon gives two of the principle reasons for gaining wisdom. Throughout the book, and even later in this chapter, he gives some specific benefits of wisdom, but here he gives us the "big picture". When a person has wisdom it enables him to "regard discretion" and "keep knowledge". The terms "regard" and "keep" are both words that carry with them the idea of "guarding" or "protecting". Thus, the acquisition of wisdom protects the believer. In the first phrase it protects his discretion, which would involve his thinking processes. Men need to make right decisions, and our discretion is what allows us to choose good over evil. Since Christians are to be "sober" (I Peter 4:7), which literally means to "think like a saved person", and are to love the Lord with all their minds (Luke 10:27), it is vitally important that we guard our thinking so that our decisions will reflect Jesus Christ. Satan desires for us to make poor choices, and the wisdom that comes from God will help us to defeat him.

In the second half of the verse Solomon speaks of wisdom allowing our lips to keep knowledge. I think there are two applications here. First of all, wisdom will keep us from sinning with our mouths. James 3:8 tells us that the tongue is nearly impossible to control, but James 3:13 says that a wise man will show forth a godly lifestyle, which would include appropriate speech. According to James 3:2 it is the perfect, mature man who offends not in word, and wisdom would certainly be a mark of maturity. Secondly, wisdom will allow the believer to speak words of knowledge. A wise man will speak wisdom, which means that the words that he uses and the counsel that he gives will be a blessing and a benefit to those that hear him.

How is your speech? How is your thought life? How wise are your choices? God's wisdom will make a difference.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery