|
Pathways Through Proverbs
Daily Devotional
October 23, 2008
Today's Reading - Proverbs 23
Click above for full KJV Online
Today's Pathway:previous - - - - - - - - - - - - next
Click above to go directly to TP
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.
Back to Top
Today's Pathway:
You may click on verses for Scripture
The events that have been taking place in the United States over the past several months give us an up to the minute proof of the truth of today's verse. Solomon in verse 4 warned his son that he should not labor to be rich. In verse 5 we see one of the reasons for that. Solomon says that riches can disappear very quickly. Certainly we can read about that every day in the newspaper. The stock market is falling, banks and lending institutions are closing, businesses are downsizing, and the money that many people thought they had is drying up. The material wealth that people believed they could trust in is rapidly disappearing, and may never come back.
Solomon asks his son why he would want to focus his life on things which do not last. I believe we should ask ourselves the same question. Why focus on acquiring money when that money can fly away? Why waste a lifetime accumulating things that will ultimately rust or fade away? Why devote our energies to receiving the praise of men that will no longer be forthcoming within a few weeks or years? Instead of setting our eyes on these things, we should follow the Lord's instructions to "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth", (Col. 3:2).
The focus of a believer's life ought to be on those things which will last for eternity. These would include the souls of men, our own family's relationship with the Lord, and all those things for which we can and will receive a reward in Heaven. Ultimately, we want to spend our lives doing and thinking about that which will be pleasing to Christ, for those things will never pass away.
Where are your eyes set?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|