What Are You Chasing?

“The proverbs,” those wise, clever, pithy (and often unrelated) sayings really begin in chapter ten with an announcement:

          The proverbs of Solomon.

          A wise son makes a father glad,

          But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

                                                                  --Proverbs 10:1

I won’t press the matter, but it is probably correct to think of the first nine chapters as a lengthy introduction. It is as if Solomon was careful to prepare the mind of his son so that he could listen to wisdom. How did he prepare him?

If I had to reduce the first nine chapters into  one statement...

Chase after the knowledge and discernment of the Lord; do not chase after women.

In chapters eight and nine wisdom is personified as a woman who is desirable, offering wisdom, discretion, and life. In stark contrast is the ‘strange’ woman (adulteress) who is ultimately portrayed as naive. She doesn’t even realize that she seduces men to their deaths.

How many young men have fallen prey to the lure of a girlfriend, the power of pornography, the seduction of another man’s wife? For a moment of pleasure a life is changed!

Changed forever!!!

How many young men have set their eyes on a good and lofty goal in life; high thoughts of service, generosity, and devotion to God, perhaps even entering into the ministry? But things changed. It was not the demands of career or changed interests; rather it was the momentary distraction of the sexual lure of a woman.

Foolish!

Even if he is careful/clever enough to escape public notice, the guilt in the heart changes him. The lofty goals smashed. Changed forever!

It is not that God’s forgiveness cannot heal. But the power of sin and its psychological entanglement are great and all too often defeating.

Watch his parents...

Filled with high hopes his father’s heart is deeply saddened; his mother weeps.

There are many ways to act foolishly, but sexual sin is among the most devastating.

Young men! Sexual purity is of greatest importance. Purity of he spirit is the pursuit of God's wisdom and knowledge and discernment. You will NEVER regret the sin you did not commit!

The 'first' proverb...

          A wise son makes a father glad,

          But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

Chase wisely.