Proverbs 1:8-19
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching… (v. 8) In other words: Listen up! Pay attention! Don’t be one of those fools who despise wisdom and instruction. (v. 7)
My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. (v. 10) If that is not good advice, I don’t know what is. It goes hand in hand with Psalm 1:1. In case there is any confusion over what “enticement” might look like, we get a pretty good word picture of plotting an ambush — highway robbery, if you will. And what are the natural consequences for such evil?
[T]hese men lie in wait for their own blood;
Proverbs 1:18-19
they set an ambush for their own lives.
Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
Although the word picture describes a particular type of crime, the principle is much more general. It really applies to any sin. Whatever the temptation might be, the “prize” is not worth it, and the sin ultimately leads to death.
The one item that stuck out for me was verse 14: …throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse… This verse is all part of the enticement to sin that John mentions. I see this enticement like a group of people seeking to bring one more person into their crowd, suggesting that the entry requirement is small. Or I see it as a shyster investor promising big returns for a small investment. Satan uses the same ploy for sin. Go ahead, take that $20 bill that’s lying loose on the counter; it’s a small amount in this big store. Or, have another drink or another piece of cake, it’s not a big deal. Or, all kinds of small sexual temptations… But sin is sin. As I was growing up the Catholic Church distinguished between venial (little) and mortal (big) sins. But sin is sin; all sin needs repentance, confession, and forgiveness. Yes, we will all have one purse. There is no one righteous, not even one. … For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:10, 23)