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Pathways Through Proverbs
Daily Devotional
April 23, 2008
Today's Reading - Proverbs 23
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Following Scripture Verses
Proverbs Chapter 23
- When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
- And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
- Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
- Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
- Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
- Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
- For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
- The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
- Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
- Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
- For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
- Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
- Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
- Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
- My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
- Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
- Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
- For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
- Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
- Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
- For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
- Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
- Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
- The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
- Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
- My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
- For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
- She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
- Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
- They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
- Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
- At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
- Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
- Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
- They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
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Today's Pathway:
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The acquisition of wealth is a huge priority for many people. Many men have stated that their goal is to make their first million dollars by the age of forty. We are constantly bombarded with commercials showing us all the different material goods that we could have if we simply had more wealth. Get rich quick schemes are advertised abundantly, and are marketed to appeal to a man's desire for more money.
These things occur because it is a basic instinct of fallen man to want to be rich. Men assume that if they were wealthy that they would have a better, longer, and more exciting life. Thus, they labor to that end. They work overtime, and take a second job, so that they can buy more things. After all, this is what the world says to do, isn't it?
Solomon tells his son to stop relying on his own wisdom, and to start thinking like a follower of God. The purpose of labor is not to be rich; it is to glorify God and to finance our service unto Him. Obviously, whatsoever we do is to be done to His glory (I Cor. 10:31). In addition, it is equally obvious that a man needs food to eat, clothes to wear, a place to live, and some other basics. Since most of us no longer live in an agrarian society where we can provide these things for ourselves, we must work in order to earn money so that these necessities can be purchased. We then take our food and shelter and use them to help us serve the Lord. We take some of our remaining funds and use them to fulfill the Lord's Great Commission through supporting our local church as well as church planting efforts throughout the world.
Don't make the accumulation of money your goal. It isn't wrong to have some of this world's goods, and it certainly isn't wrong to enjoy them (Ecclesiastes 5:18). However, the priority of our lives must always be the Lord, and using what He has given us for His work
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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