Proverbs 5
Bible Passage: Proverbs 5
Choosing to Listen
When I was in primary school my mother would often send me to the supermarket to buy a few groceries. Each time, she’d give me a list and some money and instruct me to put the money into my pocket, so that I wouldn’t loose it.
Yet, I often didn’t pay attention and just held the money in my hand. One day, I was again on the way to the supermarket with mum’s money in my hand. When I reached the supermarket, the money was gone. The money had slipped out of my hand without me even noticing it. Although I immediately went to look for the money, I couldn’t find it anymore.
That day I learned to listen to my parents’ instruction.
In Proverbs 5, our heavenly father warns us, His children, to beware of the seductress. The portrayed adulteress is dangerous because she seems to be so much better than our own spouse; she seems to be the one who can really make us happy; it surely can’t be wrong to pursue happiness?
In our journey of faith, we have been betrothed to Jesus Christ and we are to walk with Him. But there are many things in the world – money, success, fame, recognition or even our family and loved ones – that can turn us away from Christ because they gradually become more important than God.
So let’s dig deep: Is God Number One in our hearts?
Certainly, we are often faced with the temptation to put other things or certain people in our lives above God. After all, we want to have a better life; we want to make others and ourselves happy. For this reason, we need to learn to be content (cf. Prov 5:15, 18-19). Maybe we need to ask ourselves, “Do I really don’t have enough? Will my family really have a happier life, if I provide more material things for them?”
We also need to remind ourselves that Christ is the true source of happiness. He is our one and only true love, and that, without Him, we loose everything. If we choose to make Him happy and improve our relationship with Him, our relationship with others will naturally improve as well.
In addition, obeying God’s word is key (Prov 5:12-13). If we truly listen to God’s words and put them in our hearts; if we immerse ourselves in the word of God, meditate on it and are prayerful; and if we choose to obey the voice of God – then even the strongest temptation will not turn us away from Christ.
Therefore hear me now, [my] children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. (Prov 5:7)
3 Comments
isfp
Sometimes obeying God’s word isn’t that easy, just like “Love n Respect”‘s testimony. We know what is right but can’t carry it out. Do we really need something to happen before we really can learn?
“12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble
in the assembly of God’s people.”
Another interesting note is verse 15-20. It warns about covetousness.
v15″Drink water from your OWN cistern, running water from your OWN well.”
Not from any wells but your own well.
v20″Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?”
This verse warn us not to commit adultery. Especially when you are married and yet not satistied with your spouse. Faithfulness is one of the lesson here.
BurningBush
Proverbs 5 warns us against commiting adultery.
Verse 3’s description of a forbidden (in Hebrew’s definition: strange) woman whose lips drip honey and speech smoother than oil, illustrates the magnitude of temptation, which in the end, leads us to ruin (verses 4-6).
Therefore, what we’ve learned in Proverbs 4 also applies here. Do not to walk in the path of the wicked by avoiding it and running away from it (Prov 4:14-15). In this way, it is not a show of cowardice but a display of courage and wisdom of heeding the word of the Father.
Furthermore, why should we be running away from temptations, when in the first place, we can AVOID or PREVENT such situation? If driving pass a red light district or night clubs can cause one to feel tempted, why not take a detour? How about avoid working on a project with a young female colleague till late at night alone in the office? You see, these are the things that probably seem trival, but if one were to allow temptations or sin to enter into our lives, that’s when it will grow into bigger sins.
Proverbs 5 sums it all up very well, in that if we fail to be faithful and disciplined, we will be led astray. And from there, we will lose our way and also perhaps our salvation in the Lord.
To conclude, I like this verse, Proverbs 5:15, “Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.” It teaches me to be contented with what I have, to be faithful to the one I love, and to be true to the one and only God of this universe.
PS
Prov 5:6 Lest you ponder her path of life-
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.
The chinese bible records Prov 5:6 differently:
以 致 她 找 不 着 生 命 平 坦 的 道 。 她 的 路 变 迁 不 定 ， 自 己 还 不 知 道 。
The Chinese bible focuses on the immoral woman: Such is that she cannot find the smooth path of life: her ways are always changing and unstable, yet she is unaware.
Prov 5:21 is also slightly different:
因 为 ， 人 所 行 的 道 都 在 耶 和 华 眼 前 ； 他 也 修 平 人 一 切 的 路 ,ie For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He makes straight all his path.
Reading the 2 verses in chinese together is comforting:
The children of God do not know the unstable and forever wavering ways of the immoral.
God sees the way of all men,
And He makes straight all the way of His children.
However Prov 5:14 is a sobering note:
I was on the verge of total ruin, in the midst of the assembly and congregation.
Have we kept a look out for our brethren and friends in church today?