Devotion for Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Today’s Passage:
Proverbs 1:10-16
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
Pastor Ben’s Commentary:
Solomon speaks to the reader as one of his sons. He is giving fatherly advice to the reader to help them make wise decisions. This is a common way he communicates throughout the book.
In today’s passage, Solomon tells his son not to consent to people who want him to get involved in their wrong doing. He says it may look like a good idea at the time because they’ll speak of easy riches, companionship, and luxury. He then goes on to say that it won’t add up to what they say it will be. You’ll be a part of potentially destructive behavior to your life and others.
Application:
1. People who do wrong are always looking for others to do wrong with them. This school year you will be invited to take part in behavior that is wrong, and potentially dangerous to the future that God has for you. Take this advice. Steer clear. Don’t give in. Don’t go with them!
2. Sin looks enticing, but is actually destructive. There is an old saying that is very true. “Sin will take you farther than you’ll want to go, keep you longer than you’ll want to stay, and cost you more than you’ll want to pay.”
In the comments today, quote your favorite verse in today’s passage and how it will help you at school this week.
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
The verse that will help me th most is proverbs 1:1My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
This verse means that if your friends are trying to persuade or tempting you to do something, you should say no or walk away. This will help me this year because there will be those people who try to tempt me to do something i should’nt do and i no god wouldnt be proud of me if did some of those things. So what i will do is ignore and walk away.
Very wise Andrew. Hope your day at school was great.
Thats awesome Andrew! I’m going to do the same thing. Pressure is difficult to overcome but God will help us 🙂
great idea!!! Believe it or not your friends will actually respect you for not being influenced to do wrong. Atleast that was my experience growing up. Be a leader, not a follower. Listen to what God knows is best and you cant go wrong. Good job!
I am going to have to say that I liked all the verses. One of the cool things that God did today was that after I read these verses I read Melana her Bible and the story today was about Satan tempting Jesus after he was baptized. The thing to remember is that we are tempted all the time (not necessarily by Satan himself) but so was Jesus. We are not Jesus but the power of the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and can guide us to safety. The application in her Bible was that scripture helped Jesus to resist temptation and that can be the same way we can too. Memorizing verses that help us with our struggles can really make an impact. It’s Gods Word living in us and responding for us.
I like the part of the verse that says refrain thy foot from their path. We are all on paths and we can easily be far gone on the wrong path before we even realize it. We need to heed the wisdom from yesterday’s verses and pray that the wisdom we seek will guide us away from what destruction may come our way.
My application is to evaluate where I am on my walk with the Lord and make sure I am not walking with those that want to bring me down by sinning.
This passage is ideal for me. In high school, there is pressures everywhere i look. I overlook & examine everything without even trying, and i see that so many of my friends have been influenced wrongly.. Im scared for them. It doesnt have to be one person to influence you. Sometimes its an entire school! So far i feel like an outcast, because a lot of people are so hard to relate to and i dont do what they do. God says to love everyone (“love thy neighbor”), and like what Pastor Bales said Sunday, it isnt always easy. These few verses are amazing because it gives me reassurance that i don’t have to go with the crowd!!
My favorite verse was Proverbs 10:15 “My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path.” Its like this verse was written for me! (im not a son though :)) It says to walk away from the pressures. I love this because this is a huge thing in high school. God has given me wisdom to know what is right and wrong, and i feel so much more aware of what goes on around me. By having God number 1 in my life, its like nothing can ever come between the relationship the Lord and I have. I feel so much more protected!
Very great Linds! It’s so cool that you see such a distinct different between being in the world and not OF the world. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the sinner from the sin but with wisdom and God’s help we can do that and see the people how God views them… Lost.
Yeah, its like i see people in a new way now. Theyre not bad people, they’re just lost and have a life where Jesus isnt in it.. Its so scary but thats why God gave me (& everyone else in h2o) these talents to make a difference in our friends lives 🙂
Lindsey, you’re so right! I feel the same way! Before it felt, “wow I’m better off then them. I’m glad I don’t make those mistakes.” I feel ashamed even thinking about how I used to feel about people! Now I feel such a burrden on my heart. You’re right, they are lost and it’s our job to lead them to Jesus! 🙂
That is an excellent observation. We need to see people as lost not bad. When we get frustrated w those around us that is a good reminder. Good job L
This passage is like an image of exactly what goes on in our schools! I love verse one! “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Peer pressure is such a hard thing to over come! This morning in my Psychology class my teacher started a discussion. The discussion was, “What do you believe happens to us when we die? Does our body, mind, and soul die all together, or does your mind/soul go somewhere else?” Everyone just stared at each other. My teacher said,”C’mon I know all of you have oppinions about this. Quit letting the pressure of your friends influence your oppinions.” One kid said that we just die and that’s it. I raised my hand and said that I believe if you’ve accepted Christ as your savior you will go to heaven. My teacher smiled and said as do I. Another girl talked about reincarnation. Out of our whole class, only three of us didn’t let the pressure get to us. I know that I don’t want the pressure of my peers to influence my actions or thoughts. I want to stand outside of the crowd and in the crowd of Jesus! 🙂
Day two knock down! Wow Mel I am so proud of you for taking such a bold stance. You basically witnessed to your entire class. 🙂 it’s cool that your teacher also agreed with you. I know they can’t say too much unless a student starts the convo so be prepared for that teacher to use you so they can say some biblical stuff.
It was awesome! 😀 thank you! & I love the teacher and I’ll be ready cause this is a huge opportunity! :))
Melanie, to have a PSYCHOLOGY teacher basically state they agree with a biblical perspective on ANYTHING is totally God-influenced…do please be ready, because I believe you’ll see the Lord work more opportunities in that setting!! What a cool 2 days so far!! I continue to be very proud of you! (and LinZ 2)!!
God is really using u already in school and it is just day 2! proud of u girl! See how God opens doors if we r willing? Love that the teacher agreed! awesome!
My favorite verse is Proverbs 1:15-16 “My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.” This happens a lot in our society, people just do what their friends are doing cause they don’t want to be left out or made fun of! It’s soo easy to do, and unfortunately I do it a lot too! But that’s not how it should be! As Christians we shouldn’t just do what everyone else is doing because it’s cool! I think we should stand out so people notice that there’s something different about us- in a good way! 🙂 Of course, it’s easier said than done!
Very true Alexis. It is harder but the nice thing is that God is always there to help us and gives us the strength we never thought we had.
& I’m so glad He is! 😀
That is such an honest comment. It is easier said than done. I do believe the more we put it in to practice the easier it becomes. People really will respect you for standing up for what you believe even if they don’t agree.
I like proverbs 1:10 because it just gives you instruction when it comes to dealing with peer pressure, and that is just walk a way.
My favorite verse was 1:15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them;refrain thy foot from their path.
Don’t even put one foot on that path. It only takes one step into trouble. Listen to the Holy Spirit. He will lead you down the right path, one you never need to worry about.
My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Those that will lure you onto such a path will run to your ending (by evil) eventually, and they aren’t to be trusted!! The potential blood shed may be ours, and there is no honor among thieves. If you travel a path for any time with that sort of person, people will identify you as one of them, and there goes “influence” (for good, for Christ) and, there goes “testimony” (damaging any potential positive impact in the future)! What other earthly reason does God plan to use us for? I don’t want to be the one the Lord uses as an “object lesson” of how to dishonor my parents and family, and the cause of Christ; I want to be the one that runs the race well, that finishes the course….and the course doesn’t run down “their path”