Proverbs Experiment: Day Five

Proverbs Chapter Five:

For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. (vs. 3-4)

This was a pretty hard chapter to find stuff to write about, because most of it is either about staying away from immoral women, or about "enjoying" your wife. The second advice is probably a good idea, although I do know that just getting married doesn't solve a person's problems. If they struggle with lust or immorality, it's not going to change if they get married. I just know too many people who have relied on marriage to be their "savior" from their problems, and perhaps for awhile it helped them with temptations or whatever, but it certainly doesn't last.

However, I guess everyone can get something out of the above verses, even if one knows an "immoral woman" or "immoral man" or not. Because really what it is saying is to look past how someone treats you, or the way someone talks to you, and realize that sometimes there are other intentions behind the front that a person puts up. I'm not saying to be overly cautious with everyone - but especially with someone of the opposite sex, it's a good idea to be careful.

Of course, as I read through the entire section of this warning against immoral women, I can see myself going to the same lengths to warn my daughter as she gets older. When I read the section at first, I thought, "Overkill!" but I'm pretty sure I'll be pretty overkill in my warning as well.

For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness. (vs. 21-23)

The first verse above reminds me of the book "Who You Are When No One Is Looking" by Bill Hybels. No matter what we do, no matter how hidden we think our sins are, there is One who is always aware of our actions.

This reminds me of church camp.

In college, I had the opportunity to be on a camp team for our school, which meant I traveled around the West during the summer going to camps and promoting our college, as well as helping out wherever possible. At one church camp, I remember one of the speakers talking about our sins and that when we get to heaven, there's going to be this big screen and everyone will be gathered around, and God will show our lives, all the things we've done and failed to do, on a screen for everyone.

Talk about a Debbie Downer.

And then at another church camp, another speaker got up and talked about how when we got to heaven, we would stand before God, and He would have this big list of the sins we had done, and at the time he would announce those sins to everyone, Jesus would stand up, take the list, and rip it up and say to God, "This is paid in full."

Hmm. Which one do we all hope for? The second one of course. I'm not sure which is correct, or if there is a third option out there. There are some verses that point to judgment even for Christians in heaven, and there are some verses that point to God completely forgetting our sins (as far as the east is from the west, so I have removed your transgressions from me...). I don't have the answer. But the truth is that whether God displays it for everyone, or he deliberately chooses to forget our sins - He knows our hearts. He knows our failures. To live knowing this and realizing that the One who loves us more than any other knows what we do but loves us anyways, should help us battle the things that drag us down, that catch us and trap us.