Abomination

For Friday, October 13, 2006
Proverbs 6:16-19

16 There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.

What God hates, so should we; and yet, we may be more tolerant than we suppose. Because we value so much people who agree with us on issues - be they theological, political, or socially; because we are loyal to our fraternity or denomination or family, we will tolerate and excuse in them what we denounce in others. We will chuckle at misleading comments of those on "our side" and pounce on the same types of comments on the other side. We admire the haughty eyes on our side as representing jealousy for truth, while we condemn the arrogance on the other side. We excuse sowing discord by those on our side by claiming the other side cannot handle truth, while we are quick to expose the slander on the other side.

These seven wicked traits are an abomination to God regardless of who exhibits them; although it is likely he despises them more when found in someone who claims to represent him. Jesus' harshest words were reserved for the men who claimed closest allegiance to God. Note further that these traits are found together. That is why they are a single abomination. Whoever is guilty of one of these traits will be guilty of all the others.

Note more deeply that all of these traits can be found in everyone of us. We have all lied; we have all looked down on someone else. We may not have literally shed blood, but we have harmed others emotionally; we have all desired some kind of harm to come. We have all said something, done something that caused discord. Do not fool yourself as the Pharisee who could not think of anything to confess before God. Because you are human, even though you are redeemed by the blood of Christ, your heart is far from being fully sanctified. Do not excuse what God so easily sees. Go each day to the mercy throne to find the forgiveness that is in Christ and to receive the daily grace needed to grow in sanctification. Give thanks to God that though your heart expresses too often what is an abomination, he sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

The Worthless Person

For Thursday, October 12, 2006
Proverbs 6:12-15

12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

The worthless man considers himself cunning, able to get away with mischief. And yet, all he is doing is setting himself up for a great fall. Compare this description of how the worthless person uses his body to deceive and cause trouble with Paul's list in Romans 3:10-18:

"None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside;
together they have become worthless;
no one does good, not even one."
13 "Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known."
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

The scarry thing about Paul's words is that he is applying to all mankind. We are all under sin and are worthless under God's penetrating eye. We must all repent before we are broken beyond healing, regardless of how we seem in the eyes of others. Thanks be to God, that he has provided us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we who will receive by faith. Let us strive to have a good reputation among men, but let us find our confidence of how we stand before God only in Christ.

A Little Sleep

For Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Proverbs 6:6-11

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

A little watching of TV, a little more time playing computer games, a little extra time... you add to the list your own time wasting activity. We all need breaks from work and the best worker knows how to pace himself. But he paces himself in order to accomplish more. The sluggard works as little as possible, always seeking (and always finding) an excuse to avoid work.

Where are you in this description. When your alarm clock goes off in the morning, do you get up or catch a few more minutes of rest? Do you need that rest because necessity kept you up late or because your TV show kept you up? Do you need naps in the day because you fail to eat right and exercise? Do you not have time for exercise because you will not keep a schedule? Do you fail to keep a schedule because your goals are aimless and you prefer rest and entertainment to productive labor?

Learn to use your time wisely. There is more time for rest and relaxation than you may realize if you learn to work efficiently and productively. But then you must find value in work. If you do not, is it because you are not employed in the right endeavor or you do not like being employed. It is easy to choose the former reason, but examine your honestly regarding the latter. Most good workers work productively in whatever endeavor they are given.

Insecure Security

For Tuesday, Octoeber 10, 2006
Proverbs 6:1-5

1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger,
2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

This counsel is not forbidding generosity, but rather risk-taking for whatever reason. A friend or family member approaches you to co-sign for a large loan. He appeals to your relationship; he promises that he can be trusted even though the venture is risky and he has not proven himself to carry through on his commitments. Indeed, that is why the co-signing is necessary. He has not shown the discipline necessary to build his own credit.

Understand that you are not doing him good to co-sign. You are enabling him to get into yet another bind, only this time you will have to make good for his promises. Where before you pitied him, now you despise him for getting you into financial trouble.

Do not act against a hesitant instinct. You may be worried that you are not trusting enough or caring enough. It is worthwhile to pray about the matter and seek counsel, but be sure to take these steps before committing yourself especially if others depend on you. A married person with children does not have the freedom to make financially risky commitments; and as stewards of God's money we all have an obligation to use money wisely.

Whatever you do loan, do so as though you are giving money generously with no expectation of return. But give to what is helpful, not what enables dependency. Should you be more willing to give to family? Yes, but still with an eye on what is for the other person's good and not to get him off your back.

The generous giver is still to be a wise giver.

The Eyes of the Lord

For Monday, October 9, 2006
Proverbs 5:20-23

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son,
with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he ponders all his paths.
22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Think what you are doing. If fear of what you may lose does not deter you; if the pleasure of your wife does not entice you, at least understand that you live before the eyes of the Lord. You get away with nothing. The Lord ponders all your paths. He sees everything, even into your heart. You will get caught, and when you do you will have no one to blame but yourself for your lack of discipline and your folly.

Live consciously under the watch of God. You are living under his watch whether you wish to acknowledge it or not. Anytime you are tempted, understand that your Lord is watching you at that moment.

I want to close this chapter on sexual temptation giving you the counsel I give to anyone who has come to me for counsel in this area. When you are tempted, and when you give in to temptation, yes, you should be convicted and repentant for your sin. But I want you to give thanks and praise to God. For is it not wondrous that when we come before God we find him sitting on the throne of grace? For our Lord Jesus Christ is our sympathetic High Priest interceding for us and covering us with his righteousness. His righteousness! Brothers and sisters, I tell you, nothing will give you greater strength to battle against the temptations of illicit sex than to revel in the grace and mercy of our God that comes to us through Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing will give you greater resolve to live for the glory of God than to enjoy the pleasures of his grace. There is no passion greater than the passion that springs from redemption. And what we need is not so much daily determination to be good, as it is to daily reawake to the goodness of God shown to us through Jesus Christ. He is the Door not only to go near, but to pass through to the abundant and truly passionate life.