Change (Proverbs 24:27)

Change is a good thing. In fact if we want to change, our environment must change.

"[Put first things first.] Prepare your work outside, and get it ready for yourself in the field, and afterward build your house and establish your home." Proverbs 24:27, Amplified

What Solomon is trying to say here is that we must make the environment around the house suitable for habitation before it is habitable. In other words, clean it up, make it ready, make it safe, then build the home.

It is much like our Christian walk. Once we initially come to the Lord, a light is turned on within the soul. But how does one walk with the Lord if he does not change his environment? I have heard the miracle of Lazars being raised from the dead as a correlation to being born again. The linen coverings were drenched with the bodily fluids, he had little to no mobility and he couldn't even see because his head was covered in a shroud. Jesus told those around him to loose him. You see, Lazarus needed help being loosed from those death clothes.

Our Christian walk can be likened to this in that as we shed those death shrouds we become new men. But take it a step further and change the environment. What does that mean? Change your friends, change habits, change what you watch what you listen to. Change everything. Once you have made the outside ready then you will be ready to build your home, a home established in peace.

The Slaughter House (Proverbs 24:11-12)

It is our job, as followers and imitators or Christ, to act accordingly. As we see others floundering in this life, we must step up and guide them toward the light. These cannot be forcible actions, but this is done out of love. No one can be pushed toward the light, rather they must only be shown the way.

"Deliver those who are drawn away to death, and those who totter to the slaughter hold back [from their doom]. If you [profess ignorance and] say, Behold, we did not know this, does not He Who weighs and ponders the hearts perceive and consider it? And He Who guards your life, does not He know it? And shall not He render to [you and] every man according to his works?" Proverbs 24:11-12, Amplified

This is not just a good suggestion. From the language of the verse it seems to be more of a command. We are to deliver those who are going toward the slaughter. What exactly is that slaughter? Take for instance a cow. When it is time, the cow is taken to the slaughter house in order to be killed and prepared for consumption. People in that town, or place, know exactly what the slaughter house looks like as they drive by. There is no mistaking it. We, too, as Christians can come to a place where we can look at another life and see that they are headed toward that slaughter house. Those who are "tottering" toward the slaughter house are living a life that is contrary to the Lord. We all know the signs. We can never claim ignorance, only cowardice. As we fail to perform and act accordingly to our Father, He weighs the heart. He knows the true intent, or lack of, within our hearts.

Created Equal (Proverbs 22:2)

Everybody has at least this one thing in common, God made everyone.

"The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all." Proverbs 22:2, Amplified

The meeting that this verse is referring to is a commonality between two persons. It is interesting, I was just talking to a friend of mine last night about this sort of thing. Death is the great leveler. In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, status separated these two men, however, in death, these two met eye to eye. Though they had a great chasm separating the two, the rich man finally took notice of Lazarus.

No matter where we are in this life, according to our status, riches or anything else, we are no better than the next guy. We all have the same beginning: the Lord made us all. We all have the same end: death.

On a tombstone, there is a little dash between the birth and death dates. That little dash signifies the life spent by the individual. How will your dash be read?

Choice (Proverbs 19:16)

It is important for us all to follow what the Lord has told us to do. Not only personally, but also corporately within the realm of Scripture.

"He who keeps the commandment [of the Lord] keeps his own life, but he who despises His ways shall die." Proverbs 19:16, Amplified

There is nothing in the Bible that is going to be detrimental to ourselves, whether in body, spirit or soul. Nothing bad comes out of the commandments that the Lord gives us. In fact Jesus Himself responded to a comment made from the crowd, "And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!' But He said 'More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'" (Luke 11:28, NKJV) We are blessed more than Mary herself when we hear the word of God and keep that commandments that we hear. Even testing the Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus turned right back to the word of God. "And behold a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said the them, 'What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?' So he answered and said, '"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind," and "your neighbor as yourself."' And He said to him, 'You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.'" (Luke 10:28, NKJV) The lawyer had the answer if front of him the whole time. He was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. What he chose to do was ignore it.

You see we have the choice to hear and obey, but we also have the choice to hear and ignore. What the Bible says is that if we ignore what it says, we shall die. Inevitably, if we follow the commandments set up by the Lord (that are not detrimental to ourselves) we live good lives and better eternal lives. However, if we choose to not follow those commandments we follow our sin nature we will inevitably die.

Harsh Discipline (Proverbs 15:10)

Discipline is a subject dealt with in high frequency in the Proverbs. Today is one of those days.

"There is severe discipline for him who forsakes God's way, and he who hates reproof will die [physically, morally and spiritually]." Proverbs 15:10, Amplified

This is speaking of the Christian as well as the human population in general. In the first part of the verse, there is he who forsakes God's way. The one who forsakes is the one that knows and was practicing God's way. The Lord loves His children so much that there is a harsh discipline waiting for them when they stray.

But the one who hates reproof is the one who does not understand the ways of the Lord. He thinks that the Bible is just a book full of "no" and "don't" statements. He hates being corrected and being told that he is wrong. That man has never seen the path of the Lord, but all men will die. All men have an end; but the final destination does not have to be Hell. For the Christian when death comes life follows swiftly but for the man of the flesh death only brings eternal damnation. The Christian has a moral code that he holds himself to but the non-Christian deteriorates in his morality. Spiritually the Christian gets stronger the closer he walks with the Lord but the man who walks on his own has nothing to replenish his strength.

Life or Death Situation (Proverbs 14:30)

It is important for the mind to be at ease in our Christian walks. Anything else could mean that we are either afraid, angry, anxious, jealous or even another number of things that are not from the Lord.

"A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy and wrath are as rottenness of the bones." Proverbs 14:30, Amplified

Do not be confused, the Lord does not wish for us to sit calm and undisturbed. The Christian life is most times anything but. This calm and undisturbed mind is not allowing any other outside life to become disruptive. Our Christian walk consists of ourselves and Jesus, no one belongs.

Envy and jealousy are the tiniest of seeds, but when cultivated, have the ability to destroy a firm foundation with wrath. The man withering away from envy, jealousy and wrath is the saddest of sights, for he never has anything to call his own. My walk is my walk; however the Lord chooses to bless me in my walk is my blessing. As long as I am focusing on my walk, then I cannot be consumed with the life of another.

The Bible (Proverbs 13:13-14)

Listen to the words of warning that surround you on a daily basis. They were placed there by the Lord to protect us. The Bible is not a tool to keep us from something, rather it is a tool to bring us to eternal life.

"Whoever despises the Word [of God] brings destruction upon himself, but he who (reverently) fears and respects the commandment [of God] shall be rewarded." Proverbs 13:13, Amplified

To not heed the Word is to invite destruction upon yourself. It is full of the words of life that we need to survive and enter eternal life. But to despise it and reject it is to fall into the hands of death. I mean this verse pretty much speaks for itself with no help of interpretation.

"The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death." Proverbs 13:14, Amplified

Remember that wisdom is knowledge applied. It is possible that the wise have been where you are at this moment in time. When you are taught by them, they are coming from a place of experience. The snares of death being spoken of here may not just be the sudden stop at the end of life, but also the second death, Hell. The Lord places people around us to place us on the path to heaven. There are no guard rails and we are welcome to leave the path whenever we want. But leaving the path means that we just might be inviting destruction upon ourselves.

Eternity (Proverbs 12:28)

Death is a place that all must visit. For the Christian, it only comes once.

"Life is in the way of righteousness [moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation], and in its pathway there is no death, but immortality - perpetual, eternal life." Proverbs 12:28, Amplified

To give one's whole being over to the Lord opens the door to eternal life. Death comes for us all. How is life being lived now for yourself. Are your actions an echo of your soul? Is what you do reeking of eternal life?

When we die, there will be two judgments, one for us and one for them. The Great White Throne Judgment will send everyone who approaches it to Hell. The there is the judgment for those belonging to God; what was done with the name of Jesus? How was life spent? Those of us who do not encounter the Great White Throne will be blessed to live a life eternally with our Creator.

There is a great spiritual truth for us all to know, "For those who sow to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit real everlasting life." (Galations 6:8, NKJV)

I pray, everyday, that what I do reeks of eternal life. I want others to desire what I have. I want the opportunity to share the prospect of eternity with everyone. I want to live like I was dying. Everyday important. Everyday my last. Everyday my moment to shine for the Lord.

The Immoral Woman (Proverbs 5:1-6)

There is one thing that a young man needs from his father, advice on the opposite sex. As a young man goes through puberty, changes begin happening in his body. One danger is falling into the arms of a woman with no discretion, an immoral woman. In Genesis chapter 2 the Moses wrote, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24, NKJV) This is speaking of a sexual relationship, intertwining souls; a relationship which should only exist between a man and his wife. Solomon understood this and gave his son words of wisdom.

"My son, be attentive to my wisdom [learned by actual and costly experience], and incline your ear to my understanding [of what is becoming and prudent for you]; that you may exercise proper discrimination and discretion, and your lips guard and keep knowledge and the wise answer [to temptation]. Proverbs 5:1-2, Amplified

Solomon had very good experience in this. He had 300 wives and 700 concubines. There was one however that took his fancy. He even wrote a love song about her, we know it as the Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs. The danger with having so many wives, or even just one who is not of the same faith, is that your spiritual life comes into extreme danger. But Solomon is not even speaking about wives here, he tells his son of the immoral woman. Solomon was a man given over to love allowing himself to slip into league with immoral woman, costing him his spiritual life. Ecclesiastes is a book written at the end of Solomon's life, a life lived while slipping away from the Lord.

Solomon wanted his son to have the ability to not make the same mistakes that he had made. Temptation is a horrible thing when one does not understand how to overcome it. But it can also be a great tool used to build a stronger relationship with the Lord; a constant sacrificing of the flesh.

For the lips of a loose woman drip honey as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil..." Proverbs 5:3, Amplified

The idea of temptation is that it is something that our bodies or minds cannot live without. Think of it like using drugs. First you have another person who who is able to converse with you, able to convince you of the benefits of using this drug. After the initial use, the body, or mind, may become addicted to the drug and need more and more. You see, the same amount will soon not be enough; just a little bit more, then a little bit more.

The immoral woman has the sweetest lips imaginable, sweet as honey. Honey is a very natural item just as sex is a very natural urge, but each has its place. Honey can be very harmful to an infant because it contains clostridium botulinum. It is an endospore that can cause infant botulism. Just think of it like this, one must mature into marriage, before marriage we are still just infants, babies in danger of death.

She is sweet and slippery. She is able to drag a man down because she knows how to speak to him, she understands his weaknesses.

"But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged and devouring sword." Proverbs 5:4, Amplified

This word "wormwood" is used nine times throughout the entire Bible, seven in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. It is always in a negative sense as well. Wormwood can be used to describe a curse or a poison. The whole purpose of either one is to destroy a person. The immoral woman has no care of spiritual well being, nor does she care for your well being.

"Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold of Sheol (Hades) - the place of the dead. She looses sight of and walks not in the path of life; her ways wind about aimlessly, and you cannot know them." Proverbs 5:5-6, Amplified

She leads only toward death. As you take her hand, you begin a journey toward hell. The wormwood is ingested and kills from the inside out. The way of an immoral woman is a slow death. Many men have tried and failed to bring her back to the paths of life, but her ways are unstable and unknown to us. Her direction is true and straight, her course is set. She is like the farmer plowing a straight row in the field. Her eyes are fixed in one placed, she does not lose sight of her goal.