February 7, 2008

Today's Reading - Proverbs 7
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Following Scripture Verses

1. My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
3. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
4. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
5. That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
6. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
7. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8. Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
9. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
10. And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
11. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
12. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
13. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
14. I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
15. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
17. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
19. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
20. He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
21. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
22. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
23. Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
24. Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
27. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

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For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, - Proverbs 7:6-7

Most of Proverbs 7 contains the sad story of a man who got involved in immorality. Over the course of the year we will look at the steps that he took that brought him to that fateful decision. Today I want us to notice a characteristic of this young man that was evident before he left his home that night: he was young and simple.

Young people are, by nature, simple. This is not necessarily caused by rebellion, although it may be as they grow older. The fact is that young people do not have the wisdom that adults have. First of all, they don't have the physical or spiritual maturity that adults have. Second, they don't have the numerous and varied life experiences that adults have. Third, they haven't sat under the quantity of teaching that adults have. Put it all together and you see that young people have great potential to go astray.

Parents, as well as pastors and other church leaders, have a tremendous responsibility to overcome this simplicity. To accomplish this will take much time and effort. Unfortunately, some are unwilling to do whatever is necessary. Notice in our text that this particular young man was "among the simple ones...among the youths". He was not in a position where he was receiving wisdom. He had placed himself, and been allowed to do so, in a position where he was being influenced by those who had no more spiritual discernment than he did. When the simple receive instruction from the simple, disaster is sure to occur.

As a parent, be sure that you, and others with spiritual wisdom, are the ones instructing your children. Don't allow them to be led by the ignorant. If you are a young person, don't let your peers set the direction of your life. Jesus said,

"And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (Matt. 15:14).

Pastor Mark J Montgomery