INSIGHT FOR LIVING 2
INSIGHT FOR LIVING 2
When the child of God meets all the conditions of life laid down by God, he will not stumble. He can live in confidence, securely, safely (CP Pr 3:21-26 with Psa 91:5-16). God's children must not withhold good from those to whom it is due, nor put off till tomorrow what they can do for their neighbour today (CP Pr 3:27-28). Those to whom it is due in V 27 are the rightful owners thereof (CP Lu 20:25; Ro 13:7). Neighbour in V 28 is anyone in need, but especially other Christians (CP Lu 10:29-37; Ga 6:9-10; Jas 2:14-16; 1Jn 3:16-19). God's children must not contrive to do evil to their neighbour who lives trustingly and unsuspectingly beside them (CP Pr 3:29 with 11:21), nor contend with anyone for no reason (CP Pr 3:30 with Ro 12:18; He 12:14), nor be envious of how the wicked prosper (CP Pr 3:31 with 24:1; Psa 37:1, 7). The perverse person is an abomination to God (CP Pr 3:32 with Psa 73:1-28). His secret in Pr 3:32 is God's revelation of Himself and His truth to the righteous (CP Pr 25:14). God curses the wicked, but blesses the righteous and gives grace to those who humble themselves (CP Pr 3:33-35 with Zech 5:3-4; Mal 2:2; Psa 37:22; Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5).
Pr 4 is a further exhortation to seek after wisdom. Solomon urges God's children to spare no effort in gaining insight and acquiring Godly wisdom, which they must never forsake (CP 4:1-9). V 4b-9 is a summary of what Solomon's father - King David - taught him. In V 10-22 that follow Solomon resumes his appeal to God's children to heed wise counsel to ensure eternal life (CP V 10-22). For New Testament Christians this translates to being totally consecrated to the service of God and completely yielded to the authority of Christ's word (CP Psa 119:9 with Mt 7:21-27; Jn 6:46-49, 63; 8:31-32; Ro 2:13; 2Ti 3:16; Jas 1:21-25; 1Pe 2:23-25). Christians must keep their heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life (CP Pr 4:23-27 with Mt 15:18-19; Mk 7:14-15, 20-23; Lu 6:45). Heart is used figuratively in this context to represent the seat or source of human motives, desires, feelings, affections, passions, impulses, thoughts etc. While Christians must always outwardly be seen to be conforming to the image of God, they must always inwardly - in the deepest recesses of their heart - also conform. The root cause of unanswered prayer is iniquity cherished in the heart (CP Job 27:8-9; Psa 66:18; Pr 15:29; 28:9; Isa 1:15; Jn 9:31; Jas 4:3). Christians must constantly examine themselves and ensure that their hearts are right before God (CP 2Cor 13:5). Christians must not speak perversely (CP Pr 4:24 also 2:12; 6:12), but must single-mindedly keep their focus on God (CP Pr 4:25 with 1Jn 2:15-17), and ponder the path of their feet. This means that they must remove every moral hindrance from their Christian walk; they must walk in the way of righteousness (CP Pr 4:26-27 also 5:21 with He 12:13).
Pr 5:15 is an exhortation to flee unlawful lust and the occasions of it. Solomon warns young men against deceptively pleasant and desirable women luring them into sexual immorality and ultimate ruin with flattery and enticingly sweet words (CP Ac 5:1-14). A strange woman in V 3 once again refers to either a prostitute or adulteress. Throughout Proverbs their charm is used as an example of any temptation to sin or abandon the pursuit of wisdom (CP 2:16-19; 6:20-35; 7:4-27; 22:14; 23:26-28; 29:3; 30:20; 31:1-3). All the prostitute wants is the young men's money. In the end he will be brought down in remorse and bodily suffering by the prostitute. In this remorse the young man will be awakened to the sense of his foolishness (CP Pr 5:10-14). Young men of God must heed the instructions of wisdom and never be involved in anything that would distract them from their Christian walk (CP Ro 6:4-13, 19-23; Col 2:6-10). Their own wives must be the only source of pleasure for young men of God, for God carefully weighs every man's goings (CP Pr 5:15-21 with 15:3, 2Chr 16:9; Job 31:4; 34:21; Jer 16:17; Hos 7:2; He 4:3). The wicked will be entrapped with their own iniquities - this is the law of sowing and reaping (CP Pr 5:22-23 with Nu 32:23; Psa 9:15; Pr 1:31-33; Isa 3:11; Ro 1:19-21, 28-32 and Ga 6:7-8).
Next, in Pr 6:1-5, Solomon warns Christians against going surety for anyone (CP 6:1-5). Christians going surety for someone else creates such an intolerable situation for themselves in God's eyes, that they are commanded to make every effort to free themselves from it as quickly as they can - like an antelope escapes from the hands of the hunter, or a bird from the snare of the fowler (CP also Pr 11:15; 17:18; 22:26-27). Christians must never go guarantor for anyone else's debt. This is not teaching against Christians helping others in need though. But they must maintain a balance between generosity and good stewardship (CP Lev 25:35-37; Mt 5:42; Jas 2:14-17; 1Jn 3:16-18). Solomon then goes on to use ants as an object lesson for Christians (CP Pr 6:6-11). These verses are a protest against laziness in Christians. Christians here are being admonished to copy the industry of ants, who are unsurpassed as workers, needing no chain of command. Their activities are so purposeful and directed, Christians need to take a leaf out of their book. Slothful or lazy people exasperate, frustrate and annoy those they work for (CP Pr 10:26). Slothful or lazy people are procrastinators - they keep putting off what needs to be done (CP Pr 22:13; 19:24; 26:13-15); they never finish what they start (CP Pr 12:11, 24, 27); they take the easy way out in everything (CP Pr 20:4). The result of slothfulness is that poverty will come with irresistible fury and they will not be prepared to cope with it (CP Pr 10:4-5; 12:11, 24, 27; 13:4; 14:23; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15; 20:13; 24:30-34; 27:23-27). In the New Testament Paul teaches that it is wrong to support men who are able, but will not work and share their own responsibilities (CP 2Th 3:10-12).
It should be noted there that Pr 6:6-8 is used by some in the contemporary church to teach that New Testament Christians must make provision and set aside reserves for their family's future financial needs as the ant makes provision and sets aside reserves for its further needs. But as is plainly evident in the context of V 6-11, it is not teaching that at all. If it did it would contradict what Jesus Himself, as well as Paul and Peter, all teach (CP Mt 6:19-21, 25-34; Php 4:6; 1Ti 6:6-8; He 13:5-6; 1Pe 5:6-7). None of this however is teaching that Christians are prohibited from owning their own home and providing the necessities of life for their family (CP Psa 112:1-3; Pr 8:18-21; 21:20). But Christians are prohibited from setting aside financial reserves for future needs because that could become the focus of their life. They would no longer see life from the vantage point of eternity. Their goal and fulfilment would no longer be in God but in themselves and the wealth they have set aside for future needs. The word conversation in He 13:5 (KJV), means manner, or way of life. This teaches that a Christian's way of life has to be without the desire for more than that which will satisfy their everyday needs. (For more detailed teachings on this subject see author's comments on Mt 6:24, 13:3-9, 19:16-22, 19:23-26; Lu 12:13-15, 12:16-21, 12:33-34, 16:19-21; Ac 2:44-45; 1Cor 10:14-22; 2Cor 12:14; 1Ti 6:6-10; He 13:5-6 in his book, A Question and Answer Study of the New Testament, and his study Christians and Wealth, lesson 15, in his book, Foundational Truths of the Christian Faith).