Monthly Archives: September 2024

PROVERBS 6 REMEMBER YOUR FATHER & MOTHER’S TEACHING

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September 22

PROVERBS 6

20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,

   from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

    and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,
    but a married woman hunts down a precious life.

                                                                – Proverbs 6:20-26

PROVERBS 6 REMEMBER YOUR FATHER & MOTHER’S TEACHING

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

The Lord wants you to never forget his commandments and teachings

Honor your father and mother’s guidance and their discipline

Parents are to pass on the commandments of the Lord

So that the children will learn to navigate the world

When you heed your parent’s teachings and correction

You will be protected from sin and overcome temptations.

Solomon reiterates Leviticus 19:3 where it says that every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep the Sabbath. In Deuteronomy 27:16 we also hear of the result of going against your parents. It says “Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ Also in Proverbs 1:8, the exhortation was to hear the instructions of your father and not to forsake the law of your mother. It was the responsibility of the parents to ensure that their children were taught the covenant law. Being a parent is a big responsibility and they are all responsible to teach God’s laws to them.

REFLECTION

  • Cite an instance when children did not heed their parents’ instructions?

PROVERBS 6 THE THINGS THE LORD HATES

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September 21

PROVERBS 6

16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

                                                                – Proverbs 6:16-19

PROVERBS 6 THE THINGS THE LORD HATES

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Because God is love, there are things he hates

He will not put up with liars and those who are haughty

He hates those who are violent and kills a human soul

He loathes anyone who plots evil against their neighbors

The Lord detests those who takes any chance to hurt someone

He abhors someone who speak lies and generates conflicts.

Why do you think Solomon enumerates in detail the things that the Lord hates? The Lord has granted him so much wisdom so that he could lead God’s people in the right way. If you look closely at these things that God hates, it has something to do with sin. They are things that go against his commands and laws.

If you follow the law of love that God has stipulated for his people, these things that Solomon enumerated here are opposite of loving God above all things and loving your neighbor as yourself. If you love God, you won’t speak lies or put down someone else. You won’t think of hurting someone else because you would treat them like your own. You won’t sow discord or conflicts because that would create destruction and ruin to others. Remember that our sinful nature would automatically make us do these things God hates. But if we walk in love and follow God’s laws, we will avoid doing these things.

REFLECTION

  • Would a true Christian do these things that the Lord hates? Why or why not?

PROVERBS 6 THE CHARACTER OF WICKED MEN

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September 20

PROVERBS 6


12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
    goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
    points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil,
    continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
    in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

                                                                – Proverbs 6:12-15

PROVERBS 6 THE CHARACTER OF WICKED MEN

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Be wary of those who appear charming and witty

They may look like they mean well, but they are wily

They use everything they know to manipulate you

They will cunningly design to bring you down

But don’t lose hope, the Lord will deal with them

Calamity will one day come and make them broken.

In these following verses, we hear Solomon depicts the character of wicked men.  One of the characteristics he pointed out is their crooked speech. He has a perverse mouth. He can never be clear with what he says, always vague and flipflopping. In other words, he can’t give a straight or honest answer because he is always looking for opportunities to manipulate or deceive someone.

Another feature of a wicked man is that they always deceive you. He may charm you first to get what he wants from you and then he sows discord and evil. He does it so cunningly that at first, you would be convinced that he is really a good person, but he waits for the right time to design a plot to snatch something from you. Solomon gives us a clear picture of these kinds of people because he wants us to discern them quickly so that they can be stopped from sowing evil plots against God’s people.

REFLECTION

  • Why is it important to know the characteristics of wicked men?

PROVERBS 6 THE VALUE OF HARD WORK

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September 19

PROVERBS 6

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,  officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
    and gathers her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man. – Proverbs 6:6-11

PROVERBS 6 THE VALUE OF HARD WORK

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Those who walk in the ways of the Lord perseveres and work hard

They work tediously because they know God will grant them fruits

Those who are lazy will have no fruit awaiting them

They avoid doing anything hard, they’d rather lie down.

Solomon gives us a lesson on hard work. He gives the ant as the perfect model for work. According to pestworld.org, ants can lift 10-50 times their body weight. Because ants are so small, their muscles are thicker relative to their body mass than in larger animals. This allows ants to carry objects much heavier and bigger than them. To put it into perspective, if humans could lift 10 times their weight, a 200-pound man could lift a small car above his head. Ants are very social insects, and they divide jobs among different types of ants in each colony. The queen or queens have only one job – to lay eggs. All other female ants are workers; they feed the larvae, take out the colony’s trash, forage for food and supplies, or defend the nest. Male ants’ only job is to mate with the queen.

No wonder Solomon uses ants as examples for hard work. He reiterates more lessons on hard work in Proverbs 13:4 where sluggards get nothing but the diligent is richly supplied.

The gardeners toil hard and God blesses them with the fruits of their labor.

REFLECTION

  • Why do you think some people think that they do not have to work hard?

PROVERBS 6 WARNING ON GUARANTEEING DEBTS

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September 18

PROVERBS 6

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
    have given your pledge for a stranger,
2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
    caught in the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
    for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
    go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
    like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

                                                     – Proverbs 6:1-5

PROVERBS 6 WARNING ON GUARANTEEING DEBTS

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

It is wise not to guarantee debts of your neighbors or strangers

You do not know how they will pay what they owe their lenders

If you have accidentally co-signed for other people’s credits

Have yourself freed from such bonds because it is foolish

Do not waste any moment when you have gotten into this pledge

Save yourself from such oath and get out of it as fast as you can

Solomon gives his son another wise word on co-signing for other people’s debts. According to some commentary, the son here doesn’t necessarily mean his biological son, but could also be students. It is wise for us to follow this advice as believers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another verse that reiterates the same theme as this is Proverbs 22:26 which says “Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts.”

We are to lend a hand to our brothers but not to foreigners as stipulated In Deuteronomy 23:19-20 because it has a promise that the Lord will bless us in all that we undertake in the land that he gave us. We clearly see how God separates his people from the world. Those who do not know the Lord will not know what is right. It is wise for us not to get involved with foolish people especially those who irresponsibly got themselves in debt.

REFLECTION

  • Why do you think Solomon cautions us not to guarantee other people’s debts?

PROVERBS 5 BE FAITHFUL TO YOUR LOVED ONES

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September 17

PROVERBS 5
15 Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice
in the wife of your youth,19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.
22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.
– Proverbs 515-23

PROVERBS 5 BE FAITHFUL TO YOUR LOVED ONES
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When you commit to the one you love, you need to be faithful
Never let other people corrupt and tempt you to break your vow
Continue to love the one you had made a covenant with
Enjoy deep intimacy with them and don’t let love slip away
Do not be tempted to look out for other sources of enjoyment
Stay faithful to your beloved so you won’t be trapped by evil.

In these following verses, Solomon warns the young men to stay faithful to their beloved wives. This was a lesson on how sex can be wonderful between husbands and wives. Solomon advises young men never to get involved with other women and stay faithful to their loved ones. Solomon depicts the beauty of sex in marriage and the ugliness of fornication with those outside of it. It is sad how the world has corrupted the sanctity of sex in marriage. According to Wiersbe “Solomon compares enjoying married love to drinking pure water from a fresh well, but committing sexual sin is like drinking polluted water from the gutter or sewer…. To commit sexual sin is to pour this beautiful river into the streets and the public squares. What waste!”

REFLECTION
• Why is it important to enjoy your marriage bed according to Solomon?

PROVERBS 5 LOVE DISCIPLINE AND REPROOF

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September 16

PROVERBS 5

7 And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.”– Proverbs 5:7-14

PROVERBS 5 LOVE DISCIPLINE AND REPROOF

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

The Lord God disciplines those who belong to him

If you love him, you’ll heed his reproof in order to avoid sin

To love discipline is to protect oneself from the world’s corruption

To hate reproof will lead you to utter ruin and destruction

Do not allow yourself to be swayed and seduced by evil ways

Keep your mouth from speaking lies and focus on the right path.

Who wants discipline when you are actually going through it? We naturally hate to be corrected or be told what to do or cautioned not to proceed with something we love to do. This is our sin nature. But we can learn to love discipline if we understand the reason behind such reproof.

The world views discipline as a restriction from pleasures or desires. They think it kills the joy of life. But God’s purpose for disciplining us is always for our own good, never for our ruin. Human discipline on the other hand, involves control and power and can sometimes be selfish in its agenda.

Solomon warns us to run from those who plot evil. He focuses on discipline as a tool so that we can be protected from ruin and destruction.

REFLECTION

  • When can discipline be a bad thing instead of a good thing?

PROVERBS 5 AVOID THE TEMPTRESS

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September 15

PROVERBS 5

My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep discretion,
    and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
    and her speechis smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
    her steps follow the path toSheol;
6 she does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

                                                                – Proverbs 5:1-6

PROVERBS 5 AVOID THE TEMPTRESS

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When you serve the Lord your God, avoid the temptress

If you listen to God’s wisdom, you will know her strategies

She is an expert at manipulation, control and seduction

She will use her charms to get you isolated and secluded

Remember that she doesn’t follow the way of the righteous

Her ways always lead you to chaos, destruction and deep darkness.

In this book, Solomon focuses on the temptress or the other woman. It may appear that the gender used is a woman, but I think it also points to anyone who is adulterous, whether male or female.  In these following verses, Solomon wants us to cling to wisdom and the truth that only comes from the word of God. It is in his divine wisdom that we get to decode all the tricks that the enemy uses to lure us into sin. It would be wise for us Christians to follow these warnings. We do not want to be caught off guard when we encounter seductions from anyone, be it a man or a woman. When we are seeking God’s truth, we will be protected from such lures and wiles.

REFLECTION

·       Why should we avoid temptations with all our might?

PROVERBS 4 WHERE LIFE AND HEALING ARE

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September 14

                                                                   PROVERBS 4
20 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,  and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

                                                                  – Proverbs 4:20-27

PROVERBS 4 WHERE LIFE AND HEALING ARE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When you pay attention to the word of God and his commands

You will find rest and peace and thrive in all of life’s demands

If you treasure the laws of the Lord and keep them hidden in your heart

You will find life and healing to all that ails your body, soul and mind

Keep your mouth from uttering corrupt speech but say only what is true

Do not get involved with the systems of the world and all that is untrue

There is much benefit to those who treasure the will and word of the Lord

But there is much chaos and ruin to those who follow the systems of the world.

Some people rely on their own belief system, culture, philosophy and traditions. They think that what they know and what has been passed down to them by many generations will be enough for them to thrive in this world. I used to be one of those people until I was saved by the truth that only comes from the word of the Lord.

When I began to study the bible deeply, my life changed and all those beliefs and wrong mindsets were replaced by what is true according to God’s word. I also began to heal from many traumas that took me decades to process because I relied on human psychology instead of the truth that is eternal and from the Lord. Because he created us all, he is the only source of wisdom when it comes to living our lives for his own purpose.

REFLECTION

  • Share an incident when you got healed from the wisdom from the bible.

PROVERBS 4 DON’T LET GO OF GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS

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September 13

PROVERBS 4

10 Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they do not know over what they stumble. – Proverbs 4:10-19

PROVERBS 4 DON’T LET GO OF GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When you hear God’s instructions, do not turn away from it

By following it, you’ll be protected against evil and all things wicked

Cling to the laws of the Lord and guard your heart against unrighteousness

The way of the wicked is going to make you stumble in so much darkness

When you don’t let go of God’s wisdom, you will have peace and joy

The Lord God protects those who walk in his path and obey his laws.

Many people do not realize that when they do not heed God’s word and his commands, they are truly hurting themselves. God created us for his own purpose: to give him all the glory. When we go against this purpose, we are opening doors for the enemy to instill our natural tendencies, which is our sinfulness. The law of the Lord is a boundary. It protects us from the tactics and wiles of the devil. When we don’t know the truth, it is easy for the devil to ensnare and trap us. As Solomon describes it in verse 19, the way of the wicked is like deep darkness where they do not know what they stumble on. The way of the upright on the other hand leads to many years of life and is like the light of dawn.

REFLECTION

  • Why do you think some people think God’s laws are hard to follow?