Too Close To Temptation, Too Far From Wisdom Series

Too close to temptation, too far from Wisdom

Proverbs 2:1-11; 5:1-23

Intro

Slide

Good evening/morning

We are finishing up a short series today called stressed out and stretched thin.

The last couple of weeks we have talked about the stresses caused in our schedules and with our finances.

If you have noticed the problems and stresses we face are most often caused by trying to live a life that the world says you should be able to live.

We have overly busy schedules because the world says you should be able to do it all!

Work, have a family, have your kids involved in an activity every season, have a clean house, and dinner every night!

We have financial stresses caused by debt because we believe what society teaches that if we just had more stuff, we would be happy, so we charge and borrow to get more!

But instead of bringing the joy and happiness we thought, it has brought stress into our lives as we find those things don’t deliver what they promised, but only added stress to our lives.

That is not to say that we don’t enjoy some of the things we are involved in or the stuff that we have purchased, even if it was with money we did not have, but it is often a bait and switch. We aren’t told about some of the consequences or stress that comes along with it.

Transition

Well, this can be true not just with our schedules and our finances, but with moral choices that affect our life as well.

Now for some moral choices, society and God are in agreement.

For example, the Bible says stealing is wrong and society generally agrees that stealing is wrong. So we don’t face the stress of being lead into a lifestyle of stealing from society in general.

But there are some areas that what society says and what God says in his word are in near complete disagreement.

And this is nowhere more true than in the area of sexual intimacy.

The world says that your body is yours to do what you want with and that sex is fun so you should be able to do whatever you want, with whoever you want, whenever you want.

If you want to have sex with someone before you are married, society says that is ok, while God says – sex is something that has been designed for marriage (1 Corinthians 7:1-5)

We see other areas that in society are gray areas, like adultery.

I don’t know of anyone who sets out to commit adultery, but as I researched this week, it seems that anywhere from 20 to 50% of wives and 30 to 60% of husbands will have an affair over the course of their marriage. While it is not encouraged, it seems almost accepted.

But even though it may be accepted in some ways and not looked down on, leading a life of lying and cheating can certainly bring about more stress in your life.

Compound that with some of the other possible effects of sexual immorality like unintended pregnancies, especially for those who are unmarried, sexual diseases, and even death through the possibility of AIDS, and the stresses that a sexually active life like the world says is ok, certainly can cause problems for us.

So how do we overcome the temptations that draw us to this and live a life free from the stresses and worries that this type of lifestyle can bring?

Today we are going to look into the proverbs for some godly wisdom and we are going to begin in Proverbs 2:1-11.

Slide

Proverbs was written largely by Solomon to teach his sons some practical aspects of living a wise and fulfilling life, and it is filled with some great advice for all of us in living wisely.

When we think of proverbs, we tend to think of the short pithy sayings that are found in most of the book of proverbs, but the first 9 chapters are a call to wisdom

And while we start today in chapter 2 and we are also going to be reading in chapter 5, but let’s begin and see what the Lord says through Solomon regarding living a life of wisdom

Proverbs 2:1-11

2 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.