Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
July 12, 2012

“Seduction Reduction”
“My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life, keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.” – Proverbs 6:20-24 (NIV)

I purposely listed verses 20 through 23 to provide a basis for verse 24. Not that it could not stand on its own but it makes far more sense when you apply the whole passage as one. In fact, the purpose of this passage is entirely preventative in nature—or as I have titled it, “Seduction-Reduction.” Can we be perfectly honest here and say that verse 24; “keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman,” does not apply to everyone reading this message? I think it is entirely safe to make that statement. But who among us can say with absolutely certainty that we are not at some point or another seduced by some element of life that appeals to any one of our senses? Oh, I am not necessarily talking about the sense of taste, smell, hearing or feeling.
Consider this: what about one’s sense of well-being? Well-being can describe our quality of life, or how we view our future. If Satan can get us to question our sense of well-being, we become highly susceptible to that which Jesus told us to guard highly against—worry!!
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? – Matthew 6:25-27

I recently had a conversation with an individual that was completely one-sided and it all had to do with their “problems.” This individual could not get beyond their problems long enough to even see Christ in their life. That is the seduction of well-being, allowing worry to erase the power of Christ in our life.
Another seduction of the senses is that of self-deprecation. That is the state of belittling or undervaluing oneself. There is a HUGE difference between this and humility. Humility is not making oneself bigger than life. Jesus Himself practiced humility to the fullest sense (Philippians 2). When we say “I am not worthy of God’s love,” we speak the truth. No one is worthy of love. However, we must never think of ourselves as worthless or unnecessary! Consider the words of Paul:
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. “ – Ephesians 2:10
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:6
One of my favorite verses comes from Psalm 8 where the Psalmist is contemplating this very thought: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (verses 3-4)
I am truly disturbed by the complete lack of confidence that so many have in their Christian faith. They have been seduced by the voice of discouragement. Worry clouds our future. Discouragement clouds our present. For those who would never think verse 24 would ever apply to them, I would hope that this message would prove otherwise. God’s instruction(s) for life apply to us all—to every part of us. Perhaps a good conclusion would be this verse: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” – Ephesians 6:10
Pastor J. T. Carnell