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Proverbs 9:1-6 ESV
Who are the simple? They are the naïve, the gullible, who are easy targets for smooth-talking charmers and deceivers who prey on their weaknesses. They easily believe whatever they think they see or hear or read without questioning if it is true or not. They assume that it is.
They are also the willfully ignorant who play stupid although they are not stupid but are very smart and cunning. They act like they don’t know what to do or how to do it, when they do, or as though they are hearing something for the first time, although they have heard it hundreds of times.
They are also those who lack sense, not because they don’t have good sense, but because they refuse to live sensibly, and they choose to live unwisely. They choose to not exercise good judgment, because they want to live in sin and to hold on to their idols and their addictions.
So, wisdom (personified as a woman) is calling out to the simple and to those lacking in good sense to leave their gullible and/or senseless ways and to live and walk in the way of insight (wisdom, good judgment, and understanding).
For those who are merely naïve and gullible and who easily believe whatever they hear, read, or think they see, the call is to test what they read, hear, and think they see, to check it out to see if it is real or if it is fake (a lie). Many Christians are being led astray because they don’t test anything.
Wisdom says we must pray and inquire of the Lord and read the Scriptures and ask for wisdom from above so that we don’t believe lies thinking we are believing truth. We must ask the Lord to open our eyes to what is unseen, and to have insight into hidden deceptions, manipulations and to fakery, too. For, not everything is what it appears to be. Anything can be faked!
For those who are lacking in good judgment because they want to hold on to their idols and their addictions, wisdom’s cry is for them to forsake their sinful lifestyles and to follow the Lord in obedience to his ways, and to walk in the way of the wise instead of in the way of the foolish.
Proverbs 9:10 ESV
And this really is the crux of the whole matter. If we want to be wise and not naïve and gullible, and if we truly want to have good sense and to exercise good judgment, and if we don’t want to fall prey to liars and deceivers, and if we don’t want to believe lies, thinking they are the truth, then we need to walk in the fear of the Lord.
And to fear the Lord is to revere, respect, honor, value, obey, submit to, and surrender our lives to him. It is to make him Lord (owner-master) of our lives and for us to serve him with our lives. It is to die with him to sin and to no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us.
For, this is the beginning of wisdom, which is something we will be growing in until the day that we die. For there is so much to learn, and we aren’t going to learn it all. On this earth we are going to know only in part. So, we need to keep listening, and keep putting into practice what the Lord teaches us. And we will grow in wisdom.
Proverbs 9:13-18 ESV
The voice of wisdom is not the only voice out there, though, wanting us to listen. The voice of folly is also crying out loudly. And she is very seductive and very prominent, too. Her voice can be heard far and wide. And many are following her seductive ways, too.
She preys on the naïve, the gullible, the senseless, the prideful, the vulnerable and the addicted, for she knows their areas of weakness, for she has gotten them to follow her before. So, she knows what to say and how to say it so that she can talk them into coming her way.
But she also calls out to those who are going the straight way, for she hopes to trip them up or to find some hole in their armor to where she can trap them in her snare. So, this is why we must daily die to sin and self and put on the armor of God to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us.
Her voice is smooth as butter as she lures her prey into her trap with her lies which she disguises as truth. For she will even use Scripture to try to prove that her way is the right way and that the right way is the wrong way. And many “Christians” have bought into her lies.
For, she convinces “Christians” that God’s grace permits them to live in adultery and idolatry, and that he will never judge them for their sins, and that he can’t even see when they sin, but that he is always smiling on them and delighting in them even if they are vegging out on inappropriate content.
And not only does she convince them that they can sin as much as they want and never face judgment, and that they can go to heaven when they die, but that it is perfectly okay to keep their sins hidden and to put on a false persona of righteousness to fool others.
Because she has so blinded their eyes with her seductive lies, they don’t or won’t see that it is the dead who dwell in her house and that they are in the depths of hell, not going to heaven at all. And so they embrace the lies and reject the truth and hold on to their sin and one day they will die in their sins (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).
So, don’t be among the foolish who fall prey to the woman of folly, but be among the wise who are walking in the fear of the Lord and who are growing in wisdom and discernment, and who are learning and who are exercising good judgment.
Surrender your life to Jesus today, if you haven’t. Leave your sins behind and walk in obedience to your Lord.
When in The Stillness
An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your truth.
While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your presence,
Our offerings to You bring.
Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You always,
Bearing their cross and turning from sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
“Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
She has sent out her young women to call
from the highest places in the town,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
To him who lacks sense she says,
‘Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.’”
she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
She has sent out her young women to call
from the highest places in the town,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
To him who lacks sense she says,
‘Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.’”
Who are the simple? They are the naïve, the gullible, who are easy targets for smooth-talking charmers and deceivers who prey on their weaknesses. They easily believe whatever they think they see or hear or read without questioning if it is true or not. They assume that it is.
They are also the willfully ignorant who play stupid although they are not stupid but are very smart and cunning. They act like they don’t know what to do or how to do it, when they do, or as though they are hearing something for the first time, although they have heard it hundreds of times.
They are also those who lack sense, not because they don’t have good sense, but because they refuse to live sensibly, and they choose to live unwisely. They choose to not exercise good judgment, because they want to live in sin and to hold on to their idols and their addictions.
So, wisdom (personified as a woman) is calling out to the simple and to those lacking in good sense to leave their gullible and/or senseless ways and to live and walk in the way of insight (wisdom, good judgment, and understanding).
For those who are merely naïve and gullible and who easily believe whatever they hear, read, or think they see, the call is to test what they read, hear, and think they see, to check it out to see if it is real or if it is fake (a lie). Many Christians are being led astray because they don’t test anything.
Wisdom says we must pray and inquire of the Lord and read the Scriptures and ask for wisdom from above so that we don’t believe lies thinking we are believing truth. We must ask the Lord to open our eyes to what is unseen, and to have insight into hidden deceptions, manipulations and to fakery, too. For, not everything is what it appears to be. Anything can be faked!
For those who are lacking in good judgment because they want to hold on to their idols and their addictions, wisdom’s cry is for them to forsake their sinful lifestyles and to follow the Lord in obedience to his ways, and to walk in the way of the wise instead of in the way of the foolish.
Proverbs 9:10 ESV
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
And this really is the crux of the whole matter. If we want to be wise and not naïve and gullible, and if we truly want to have good sense and to exercise good judgment, and if we don’t want to fall prey to liars and deceivers, and if we don’t want to believe lies, thinking they are the truth, then we need to walk in the fear of the Lord.
And to fear the Lord is to revere, respect, honor, value, obey, submit to, and surrender our lives to him. It is to make him Lord (owner-master) of our lives and for us to serve him with our lives. It is to die with him to sin and to no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us.
For, this is the beginning of wisdom, which is something we will be growing in until the day that we die. For there is so much to learn, and we aren’t going to learn it all. On this earth we are going to know only in part. So, we need to keep listening, and keep putting into practice what the Lord teaches us. And we will grow in wisdom.
Proverbs 9:13-18 ESV
“The woman Folly is loud;
she is seductive and knows nothing.
She sits at the door of her house;
she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
And to him who lacks sense she says,
‘Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’
But he does not know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”
she is seductive and knows nothing.
She sits at the door of her house;
she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
And to him who lacks sense she says,
‘Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’
But he does not know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”
The voice of wisdom is not the only voice out there, though, wanting us to listen. The voice of folly is also crying out loudly. And she is very seductive and very prominent, too. Her voice can be heard far and wide. And many are following her seductive ways, too.
She preys on the naïve, the gullible, the senseless, the prideful, the vulnerable and the addicted, for she knows their areas of weakness, for she has gotten them to follow her before. So, she knows what to say and how to say it so that she can talk them into coming her way.
But she also calls out to those who are going the straight way, for she hopes to trip them up or to find some hole in their armor to where she can trap them in her snare. So, this is why we must daily die to sin and self and put on the armor of God to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us.
Her voice is smooth as butter as she lures her prey into her trap with her lies which she disguises as truth. For she will even use Scripture to try to prove that her way is the right way and that the right way is the wrong way. And many “Christians” have bought into her lies.
For, she convinces “Christians” that God’s grace permits them to live in adultery and idolatry, and that he will never judge them for their sins, and that he can’t even see when they sin, but that he is always smiling on them and delighting in them even if they are vegging out on inappropriate content.
And not only does she convince them that they can sin as much as they want and never face judgment, and that they can go to heaven when they die, but that it is perfectly okay to keep their sins hidden and to put on a false persona of righteousness to fool others.
Because she has so blinded their eyes with her seductive lies, they don’t or won’t see that it is the dead who dwell in her house and that they are in the depths of hell, not going to heaven at all. And so they embrace the lies and reject the truth and hold on to their sin and one day they will die in their sins (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).
So, don’t be among the foolish who fall prey to the woman of folly, but be among the wise who are walking in the fear of the Lord and who are growing in wisdom and discernment, and who are learning and who are exercising good judgment.
Surrender your life to Jesus today, if you haven’t. Leave your sins behind and walk in obedience to your Lord.
When in The Stillness
An Original Work / September 26, 2011
When in the stillness of this moment,
Speak to me, Lord, I humbly pray.
Be my desire, set me on fire,
Teach me to love always.
Help me to walk in fellowship with You,
Listening to You; sit at Your feet.
Whisper Your words to me,
Oh, how gently, guiding me in Your truth.
While we are waiting for Your blessing,
Lord, in our hearts be King today.
Help us to live for you ev’ry moment,
List’ning to what You say.
May we not stray from your word within us,
Help us obey You, Lord, in all things,
Walking each moment, Lord, in Your presence,
Our offerings to You bring.
Help us to love You, Lord, our master;
Be an example of Your love,
Helping the hurting, lift up the fallen,
Showing them Your great love.
Teach them to love You, follow You always,
Bearing their cross and turning from sin;
Walking in daily fellowship with You,
Making You Lord and King.
Amen.
