June 5 - Proverbs 7-9: Lady Wisdom vs. Madame Whore

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 7-9

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Both Wisdom and the Seductress give advice. Only one is worth listening to.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Friend, make Wisdom and Insight your closest confidants.
The Seductress looks for senseless men walking idly. They think sleeping with her safe but instead they die painful deaths.
Wisdom preaches in the square, "Listen up, you blockheads. Want the path to life and great success? God made me before the earth so ignore my words at your own peril. You, in the streets, obey and live well."
Madame Whore also calls out, "Want the good life? It's easy; steal it! You can get away with it!" What her followers do not know, however, is that her followers end up dead.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

What is done in secret never stays secret.

It doesn’t matter how hard a person may try, the sins they commit in secret will not stay secret forever. That is the lesson of the man with an arrow in his liver. One of the main reasons is that sin always lasts longer than expected. The Seductress told the man they were safe for a month. The husband didn't come home early—the man couldn't leave. He was trapped. Beware sins that entice with the perceived cloak of secrecy. They never end up that way.

Lady Wisdom calls out to everyone to live lives that set things right.

Lady Wisdom wants the simpleminded and those who do not know how to live to listen to her. She was created long before the world and knows wisdom that no person could possibly make up. She understands that wealth is not greater than Wisdom and that the obsession for setting things right for God is true sanity. Listen to Lady Wisdom's advice—it leads to life!

Lady Wisdom is not the only one calling.

What a tragedy those who follow Madame Whore become. They believe the secret to success is stealing it from others, or stepping on everyone below to make sure they have no competition at the top. They, too, will become a skeleton in her closet. Do not listen to Madame Whore's call—it leads to death!

Who do you listen to?

June 4 - Proverbs 4-6: Investing in Wisdom and Good Women

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 4-6

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

There are things God hates. Take note.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Listen to my father's passed-down-generation-after-generation advice. Buy Wisdom and search for Understanding—it's worth the investment.
Evil people dream of evil deeds. Their road leads to darkness.
Listen, your heart is the source of life. Stay on the right path.
A seductive woman is bad news—stay far away. Stay with your own woman; it's better.
If you make a terrible mistake, rectify the situation without delay.
Work hard like the ant. Lazy people wind up poor.
God hates six things and loathes seven: arrogance, lies, innocent-murders, evil hearts, cheap thrills, truth-evading, and family-busting.
Don't commit adultery. It's deadly. Don't.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Invest in Wisdom and Understanding

One of the issues schools have today is how to help students gain a love of learning while teaching them what they need to know. Schools could teach thousands of facts, but if the student is not invested in learning they are not prepared for life. When we invest in wisdom and understanding (with our foundation set in God) our lives become beautiful. Think of the most beautiful people you know. They are most likely lifetime learners.

The road of the wicked looks like an easy bypass but is a death road.

The get-(insert here)-quick scheme always seems the best until you start doing what they suggest. Then you realize it isn’t as easy as you thought. They have either tricked you into going down the hard path or are trying to get your money/life. The "bypass" around the hard parts of life turns out to be a road of bones—dark and treacherous because of the dangerous people there.

Stay away from cheap women.

"Nothing but Sin and Bones" is the heading for this section in The Message. In reality, that is what a woman who seduces men becomes. Stay away! She only leads to tears. In reality, her love cannot satisfy as much as a woman who makes you "earn" her love. Compare the outcomes from the lovers in the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) to the lovers of "cheap thrills woman" or the Seductress. Solomon wanted to pound this into our heads. It's repeated tomorrow as well. Stay away from cheap, seductive women. Find a woman who helps you earn her love. They're worth the investment.

Don't wait to set things right.

Solomon uses the negative side of this coin to illustrate how important setting things right should be. If you make a mistake go quickly and set things right. There's no time to lose! Maybe your swiftness can help you get out of the bad decision. If you make a mistake, set things right now! Don't wait!

God hates things that do not set things right.

God is Love (we'll read that in the New Testament). Yet even He hates when people do not set things right. All seven prevent things that set things right. Purge yourself of these seven things:

eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family. (6:17-19, The Message)

What are your investments?