This past year I discovered something truly amazing about my cell phone. A co-worker said one day that she was using her You Version Bible app to listen to the Bible every morning. I started using it and found myself listening to whole books of the Bible at a time. What a new perspective! When you start digesting whole chapters and books of the Bible, you begin to realize that the same theme appears over and over again in the New Testament and the Old. It is the story of the inward, personal, private struggle between the Spirit of God and the sin nature, the thing that most people call human nature that we usually use as an excuse for wrong or foolish things we do. Our sin nature can’t be improved upon or fixed up in any way. God’s strategy for removing it is for us to be crucified with Christ so that we/the sin nature no longer lives but it is Christ who lives in us. For the Christian there is no other way.
This same theme appears in Proverbs 7. Solomon tells his son, and us, that sin is beautiful and dangerous. It’s cozy but ruinous. It’s easy but promises consequences much too hard to bear. Solomon encourages his son to keep his father’s commands close, bind them to his fingers and write them on his heart. He describes the perils of giving in to the seduction that the world offers every moment and in every conceivable form. There is a difficult choice to make. Do we go with our innate desire to follow our passions, or do we take the path of most resistance. It would be a very lonely path if it weren’t for the fact that Jesus is always present at the crossroads. He is taking the high road and welcomes us to join Him. Every time we do, it gets easier to choose life over death.
God’s way is a paradox. It’s the “free” life without regard for wisdom and truth that binds and the life protected and guarded by wisdom and truth that makes us free. We cannot resist temptation on our own. It takes the one who resisted every temptation and overcame them all.
For we do not have a high priest who
is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has
been tempted as we are, yet without sin. - Hebrews 4:15
"….In
this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33
Because
Jesus overcame and offers us himself in a very uneven trade, victory is ours for
the taking. So as Solomon put it earlier, “In
all your getting, get wisdom” and choose Jesus. He
is up for the job!
What did you hear God saying to you in Proverbs 7?
Rob Hall
Worship Pastor
Worship Pastor
Rob, thanks for the reminder that our struggle or battle between our flesh or sinful nature & the Spirit of God is won or lost by choosing to depend on Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter also reminds me of something I learned thru recovery - HALT - when you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely and/or Tired you are more susceptible to temptation.
Grace & Peace, Stephen
Proverbs challenge continues. Chapter 7 instructs me to TREASURE God's teachings. So...how does a person behave towards the things they treasure? (Andy Stanley suggests you can tell by looking at his/her bank statement.) I think of my interactions with my children. God commands me to hold his words near and dear...give them high value...make them a priority. As a woman, a prostitute is of less temptation to me...however, I can receive the warning not to be promiscuous in other areas of life. The definition of promiscuous is "having or involving too many/much." This would be the very opposite of treasuring something...
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous poster about being able to apply teaching on the "adulterous woman" to other areas of our lives. I think she represents the many things that, without wisdom, attract our attention and can feel like a good idea in the moment.
ReplyDeleteIn today's world of instant gratification, the temptation of sin is like that low hanging fruit. It looks so good, and would be so easy to give in to. And yet we know the right choice is to follow Jesus's example and avoid the temptation. Knowing that He sacrificed himself for me gives me the strength.
ReplyDelete