Proverbs 11:24-28; 23:1-8; 30:7-9 — Do not be bewitched by the deceitfulness of riches!

The mentality that Biblical principles are meant to be used to become wealthy on earth has to be reprehensible to God. Such a concept defies the following statements:

“There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:13).

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:19,20).

“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” (James 5:1).

“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:9,10).

“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).

Why should I want to gain material stuff to keep for increasing my wealth? Why should I Read it all

Proverbs 10:1; 13:24; 15:5,10,12; 19:13,18; 20:11; 22:6,15; 23:13-16; 29:17 — lots of teaching in The Book about training children correctly

CLP had this same lesson eight years ago! Click that link to read more of what I wrote for that lesson. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits from it…

• What should be my motivation in disciplining another?
• Is the “right” to discipline my child something I need to “earn”?
• Am I as open to being trained as I am to doing the training?
• How does God measure the success of my child training?
• What should be my attitude toward those parents who train differently than I do?

What should be among our chief aims in child training? Read it all

Proverbs 6:6-11; 10:2-5; 24:30-34 — listen to the Bible’s warnings against slothfulness!

It’s summer — get busy! — Proverbs and the Book of John record some of God’s serious warnings against slothfulness

I believe God had me (and you) in mind when He “wired” certain instincts into the ant. And then gave us strong warnings against slothfulness.

God gave us far higher intelligence and far greater capability for wisdom than He chose to give the ant. We ought to act according to deliberate choices guided by intelligence and wisdom, not mere instinctive programming.

God is addressing a certain type of immaturity or character flaw: lazy irresponsibility (Proverbs 6:6).

God has certain lessons He conveys by certain behaviors of an ant (Proverbs 6:7,8). Read it all

Proverbs 5:15-18; 6:23-35 — If you don’t safeguard your moral purity, who will?

First, some scattered thoughts I noted earlier in the week:

• Do not drink in sights and experiences which are not yours — not “out there,” not in your house, not on your digital device, not in your head (Proverbs 5:15).
• Don’t take your sexuality into the public domain. Don’t make a public display of your sexual vigor, drive, or need (Proverbs 5:16).
• A stranger here is not just someone you don’t know (Proverbs 5:17). It’s anyone you don’t have a right to know sexually.
• Satan and the world tell us something entirely contrary to this verse (Proverbs 6:23). They picture divine and godly reproof and restraint as repression and oppression. They paint commandments, laws, and correction as negative and counter-productive.
• God’s instructions and rules guard us from moral evil and immoral people (Proverbs 6:24). His commandments and teachings guard us from the seductive enticements of that evil and those people.
• We must choose not to indulge and nourish the desire for the undeniable beauty and attractiveness of that which does not belong to us — be it a person or a philosophy (Proverbs 6:25).

Read it all

Proverbs 3:1-18 — For, you does the worth of wisdom exceed all else?

This passage has two of what I like to think of as the Proverbs Beatitudesthe worth of wisdom for our character and spirit:

• “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13).
• “She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her” (Proverbs 3:18).

My heart needs a stronger bent toward wisdom. The pursuit of wisdom does not dominate my thinking, drive my doing, nor consume my life. Bible reading, meditation, and study occupy an extremely small portion of my day. Reading challenging, thought-provoking books and thinking about their message do not find a ready place in my day’s activities. Probing the life experiences and lessons in others . . . well, that rarely happens. Read it all