I’m so glad that you are back to check out Part 2 of the Journey through Proverbs. If you have not checked out my first post yet, I would love for you to read it here https://lifesramblingroad.com/my-journey-through-proverbs/
I have been finding this journey through Proverbs to be very enriching, and I hope you are finding it to be the same. God has been speaking to countless people whether it be through the prophets, Jesus, his disciples, the written word or us. Just let that soak in for a second. He has had the power to change lives for centuries. When I think about that, I really want to open myself up to what I may encounter in the pages of his Word.
Proverbs, to me, has been a place where I have been able to find real practical, uncomplicated wisdom that I can put into practice or reaffirm my understanding and position. I have really been trying to align my life in the ways of Christ and I feel like this is a great place to start.
During this post, I’m going to venture through Chapters 4-6. These chapters have been dynamite. I seem to find lots of wisdom in those words. I hope they speak to you as well.
Without further ado, let’s dive right in. All the verses again are taken from the CEV version.
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The Following Scripture…
Don’t follow the bad example of cruel and evil people. Turn aside and keep going. Stay away from them. Proverbs 4:14-15
Sounds like sound advice, doesn’t it? I’m sure most of us have heard that who we hang around with can make us who we are? Or we might have heard people talking about how someone got into the wrong crowd. All of these thoughts directly speak to these verses from Proverbs. God wants to protect us from people who will lead us astray. However, this requires some effort on our behalf. We can’t simply ignore this and decide to hang out with people who do things that we know are wrong or bad and think there could be no consequence from those actions. The more we decide to hang around people that do not support Christian biblical values, the more we could eventually question our own beliefs. When we choose to distance ourselves from people who are doing evil or wrong things, we are following the Word of God.
God is not giving us this command so that we can sound like pompous people who think we are better than others. He is giving this instruction to us to protect us from making bad choices and things that can hurt us. God loves us and wants what is best for us. He knows that people who are committed to doing bad and evil things are not good for us.
Let’s look at it in terms of being healthy. If we know that eating healthy foods is going to make us feel better and have less health problems and we are committed to that, but we hang out with people who are constantly eating badly. Well, we may find ourselves bending to their eating style and in the long run we may end up hurting our own health. Same is true for the people we surround ourselves with. If we hang out with people who do not share our values, as time goes on, we may start to question our own judgements and start to bend where we know we shouldn’t.
Because we are human, we need God to guide us so that we can stay on the right path. One way we can try and follow God’s instruction, is to surround ourselves with Godly people. When we do that, we are there to support each other when we may have to make the hard decision to stand up for what we know to be right and true. This can be really hard to do, and it is nice to know that we have people in our corner that support us when we live according to God’s ways. They can hold us accountable for our actions. That can be critical to keeping us on the right path—God’s path.
The lifestyle of good people is like sunlight at dawn that keeps getting brighter until broad daylight Proverbs 4:18
Imagine for a moment a sunrise of late that was memorable. Think of how it made you feel. They are often beautiful and awe-inspiring. Red, yellow, orange and pink paint the sky until the burst of sun breaks past the horizon to illuminate the ground. Often, they make me smile and I take a moment to stop and just be and observe. (Don’t forget I will surely grab my camera.) 😊
What a beautiful description of the lifestyle of good people. I know I would love to invoke these kinds of emotions in people that I encounter. I want them to smile and be glad that they had a moment to encounter me. I want God’s glory to shine through me that it may illuminate someone else’s life.
I know I have met people in my life that have made an impact on me. They are living and have lived the lifestyle of good people that is spoken about in this verse. I feel blessed to know(n) them.
Just like a sunrise, its appearance isn’t competing with anything else, it is humble in its display. A good lifestyle should be humble. When you look further at what makes these people so pleasant, it is often the Godliness that they are glorifying just by trying to live a Christ centered life. They are not out there broadcasting that they are trying to follow Christ every other minute, but it is evident in the way they live their life. It is different and oh so pleasant to be around because of the choices they have made. We are all human and we all need God’s forgiveness because no matter how much we strive to live like Christ, we will fall short often. However, I know that I am going to try and strive to be someone’s sunlight in the morning.
And don’t be like a stream from which just any woman may take a drink. Save yourself for your wife and don’t have sex with other women. Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. Proverbs 5:16-18
God’s word doesn’t steer away from tough issues. He takes them head on and is very clear about what he wants for us. God believes marriage is to be special and pure. He wants us to accomplish this by staying pure before we are married and once we are married to remain faithful. Oh, I can see the eye rolling or sighing from some, but I know that God desires what’s best for us. (We just covered that in a different verse earlier). You might be right to say this is an “old-fashioned” idea. I know I have heard that before. In fact, it was written right here in Proverbs–the Old Testament. (That is a long time ago.) However, that doesn’t not mean that it does not apply to us today. We can’t just pick and choose what part of Scripture we want to follow.
As society today weaves farther from Biblical values, we see how it has disintegrated our lives. Soaring divorce rates and infidelity are just the tip of the iceberg. In turn, these choices of not living a pure life have affected the lives of those around us. Families are often broken and kids are caught in the middle. Sexual diseases and a lack of commitment in our relationships have been just some of the fallout from these wanderings. God wants better for us. He wants us to appreciate and treasure our spouse and any fellow person before we are married. He wants us to wait to have sex with our spouse only. He wants us to experience the true beauty of experiencing this intimacy with our spouse alone. No one said marriage is easy. We need God to help us through it always.
But let’s get back to glorifying people who are looking to be pure and follow God’s Word in regards to sexual behavior. Let’s strive for this in our own lives. Yes, it will be hard, but that is why we have God to rely on and our Godly friends and family. It will be so worth it in the end. When we have gone astray from God, it has not proven to give us a better life. Let’s encourage ourselves, our kids, and friends to save themselves for marriage and to remain committed once married. It might be “old-fashioned” but it is not out of style, and it is God’s desire for us.
The last verse
Obey the teaching of your parents—always keep it in mind and never forget it. Their teaching will guide you when you walk, protect you when you sleep and talk to you when you are awake. Proverbs 6:20-22
God puts the responsibility on children that they should obey parents. Before we as parents get puffed up and start touting that we were right all along, we need to think about the incredible responsibility this puts on us as well. We should expect our children to obey what we instruct them. It is God’s desire. However, in order to instruct our children, we need to make sure that we are instructing them in a Godly way. Without our devotion to pursuing a Godly life, we could lead them astray.
God puts the responsibility on children that they should obey parents. Before we as parents get puffed up and start touting that we were right all along, we need to think about the incredible responsibility this puts on us as well. We should expect our children to obey what we instruct them. It is God’s desire. However, in order to instruct our children, we need to make sure that we are instructing them in a Godly way. Without our devotion to pursuing a Godly life, we could lead them astray.
I understand that some parents are not ideal. Unfortunately, some children must endure some terrible parenting. In those circumstances, can we be a better example to those children by how we interact with them and how they see we interact with our children.
By teaching our children the importance of obeying us whether they think it’s the right decision or not, we are indirectly preparing them for a life of obedience to God. All of this may seem heavy and daunting, but know that God is with us when we journey through this season of parenting. No one said it would be easy, but we always have the Father to be our example.
Throughout these chapters of Proverbs, these verses focused heavily on our relationships with others. There were so many other countless verses that spoke to me as well. I hope you enjoyed the verses I chose and were able to find something enlightening in them. I hope you continue to journey with me. I would love to hear your take on these verses or others that have spoken to you. God speaks to us all, and we can all help and support each other through this thing called life.