Next Steps for "Fleeing Evil Associations"

Are you "doing business" with evil? Are you letting evil habits, hurts, thought-patterns or relationships ruin your life? Whether you are in the midst of an affair or you are a compulsive gossip, you are doing business with evil. Whether you are abusive in a relationship or addicted to approval, drugs or success, you are doing business with evil. All of us make business deals like these, no matter how large or how small, in one way or another. However, in Proverbs 1:7-19 we learned this week that Solomon teaches his son of three things to look for in order to recognize business deals with evil.

1.) Evil Entices - Business deals with evil begins with us being enticed by what we SEE (Prov. 1:10).

2.) Evil Flatters - Business deals with evil then flatter us by letting us HEAR words of agreement by another person (Prov. 1:11).

3.) Evil Wants a Partnership - Evil says, "...throw in your lot with us, and we will share in a common purse..."(Prov. 1:14).

So, how do we take Solomon's advice and flee evil? What are the "next steps" to avoid these associations? First, rather than being enticed by evil, ask God to open your eyes to SEE His wisdom which orders the universe (Jeremiah 10:12). Second, open your mouth and let another mature Christian HEAR your struggles with evil. Confession of sin humbly acknowledges your need for a Savior and reduces the power of sinful patterns in your life. Third, if you haven't all ready, do business with God by partnering with Jesus. Jesus will not destroy you as evil has been doing; but rather, he destroyed himself so that we can be transformed.

Two Next Steps for "Letting Proverbs Read You."

This week was an exciting week as we began our series on the book of Proverbs called "Wisdom for Fools." In introducing Proverbs we learned about the importance of allowing wisdom into your life deeply. You must ask yourself, "Am I just reading Proverbs or am I letting Proverbs read me?" However, it is integral that we approach life, God, Proverbs and almost any situation with a teachable spirit if we are to learn God's wisdom. Without a teachable spirit it is impossible to learn anything. We do well to learn from Solomon the author of Proverbs who said to God in 1 Kings 3:7-9 (NIV)

⁷ "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

Solomon's teachable spirit early in his life allowed God's wisdom to take root in his life and become the wisest leader of his day. Solomon did not just read about wisdom; in fact, he was so teachable he allowed wisdom to read his life (at least early on). If you want to let the Godly wisdom of Proverbs read you and take root in your life here are two "next steps" to help that happen:

1.) "Choose wisely and ask God to open your eyes to his wisdom." Take a lesson from Solomon as he went to God, the author of wisdom, and asked for wisdom. He did not ask for wealth, women, fast chariots or detriment to his enemies...he asked for wisdom. The secret is to ask God who gives wisdom liberally to those who want it. Only wisdom can help you manage life and steward it well. If you want it, ask...you will not be disappointed.

2.) "Practice teachable moments." Children are so teachable. Granted, they don't always listen to their parents, but when the touch the hot stove, what's the first thing they do? They run to their parents in tears to seek comfort in their pain. They know they are deeply dependent on their parents for their welfare and survival. Who do you run to when life hurts? Who do you listen to when life hurts? Do you retreat into yourself? Do you ignore the advice of others? If you continue to harden your heart and not be teachable, both toward God and others, you won't have the humility to recognize God's wisdom. If you want to win in life, practice being teachable. Admit you don't have it all together, because it's obvious to God (and often is to others as well), so there is freedom in making it obvious to yourself.