What not to do

     Proverbs 1:10-19  My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. 
(11)  If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk
secretly for the innocent without cause;  (12)  Let us swallow them alive like
Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;  (13)  We shall find all
kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil;  (14) 
Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse"-- (15)  My son, do not
walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path;  (16)  For their
feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.  (17)  Surely, in vain the
net is spread In the sight of any bird;  (18)  But they lie in wait for their own
blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives.  (19)  So are the ways of
everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners.
     Now, God is going to gives us some advice for life and it's
troubles. Again, I love the "my son" that He says. That is always an
encouragement for me, and I hope it is for you as well. Ok, so first we see a
clear direction from God in verse 10. Also we see the first step in falling into
sin. Some might say that it's not the young man's fault but, it's because he
got in with the wrong crowd. However, it was his choice to be there and he
consented to do what they want to do, so it his fault. No one can make us
sin. The choice is always up to us wether we sin or not. We need to not
consent to sinners! We need to have some backbone and just say "NAY! I
will not do this evil in the sight of my God!" It may not even be someone who
is enticing you to sin but, you yourself. Do not be deceived, all of us have a
sinful mind and think things that we should not. It is then that we should take
every evil thought captive to the obedience of Christ. That means that when
we think something evil, which will happen, we need to say the same thing
to ourselves that we say to sinners who entice us, "Nay! I will not do this evil
in the sight of my God!" You might have to say it more than once, your
enemy doesn't listen very well and if you are like me, I am my own worst
enemy. So, for me, I must say this to myself a whole lot each day. The
enticement doesn't simply go away either. That guy will come back again
and again until we are finally called home to be with the Lord. However, do
not lose heart, for the Lord our God is with us every second of everyday. He
will neither leave nor forsake those who are in Him.
     Verses 11-14 speak of the things that sinners will entice you with.
They lure you with riches, with the thrill or doing bad and getting away with
it, and with the friendship of having one purse. For some, it will be easy to
say no, or nay, to these things. However, there are a lot more things that
they can, or you yourself can, lure you with. We have a threefold enemy!
Their names are the flesh, the world, and satan. The flesh is yours and my
first enemy. The one that is always there to give his opinion on what to do
but, never is a good opinion. The world is anything in this world that turns
you from God's ways and Himself. And we all know who satan is, he is the
one who tries so hard to turn every believer from God to himself. The only
good thing about him is that if he is after you then you know you are where
you should be. Because he doesn't need to touch those who are not doing
God's will.
     Now verses 15-19, I believe is God directly telling us the
consquences of following such evil ways. Again, I love and say it is from
God because of the "my son" in the beginning. He is saying clearly not to do
it, and without yelling I might add. God love us so much to tell us the reason
why we shouldn't comit sin. He says that these people wait for their own
blood! They set a trap but, they are the ones who fall in it! The price of
greed is the life of the one being greedy! So, God our Father, says to stay
far from them and not go the way they go. Again, we are as much a sinner
as these people but, we have been freed from sins power over us through
the blood of Jesus Christ! We are still going to sin day by day but, we have
the choice to sin or not, while those who don't have Christ haven't that
choice. And when we do sin, we can run back to Jesus and ask for
forgiveness but,  that doesn't mean we can keep on doing the same thing
over and over because He will forgive us. No! We need also to repent of
that sin and never do it again. This is, of course, easier said than done but,
God through Jesus Christ gives us the power to do so.
     I am so excited to continue in God's word and will for my life and
hope that you are as well. There is no better life than that of being in God's
family!
     Praise be to God for His love and warning to us all.