Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Proverbs 5:21-23 -- On Escaping Ourselves and Seeking Instruction

"For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray."
Proverbs 5:21-23


I think this is an interesting reminder of how God punishes us.  God sees and understands everything that we do, and the consequences of not listening to God is not a lightning bolt to the chest or something dramatic and earth-shattering, but instead being "without instruction," and suffering from our own poor choices.  It may not seem like a bad consequence when we're starting down the path of sin, but I think as we get farther in, we realize how very much we don't want to suffer the consequences that we have freely chosen.

Luckily, God wants us to turn around and repent, and he will do all that he can to help save us from our own folly, if we turn to him and do what it takes to clean up our lives.  Today, let's resolve to escape the cords of sin and our own folly, and turn to the Lord, who knows all our ways, and can see the way out, even in the worst of sins or the depths of addiction.  Let's not die without instruction, but instead pray for it will all our hearts.  As we do so, the Lord will teach us, and guide us, and help us to escape the traps that we have set for ourselves through obedience to the gospel.

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