Proverbs Chapter 6

Pro 6:1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
Pro 6:2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

If you co-sign for a loan, you may have to repay it yourself if the one you signed for either dies or defaults on the loan. I've seen personally someone I love very much have their finances destroyed and is now going to lose his home because he was pressured into taking out loans and co-signing for loans to help someone out.

I believe in giving but if we give in that way, we are not giving what we have but giving what we don't have and may never be able to repay. This is not the giving that Jesus talked about when he said to give. Giving the bank's money is not giving. If you can't repay the bank then they were the ones giving and they should get the reward if there is a reward to be had. Giving to someone who constantly drains the finances of all around him or her, is not really helping them to become responsible individuals. In the long run, we are hurting the person, not helping. They learn to run to us as a source and they never learn to trust God. I don't believe Jesus meant for us to give in such a way as to cause us to have to one day file bankruptcy and default on our own debts thereby cheating the loan companies out of what is due them. Just because a company is rich does not mean we have the right to take their money without repaying it.

I realize that this happens to some in innocent ways like emergency medical bills, loss of jobs etc. I'm not talking about those incidents here. I'm talking about allowing our children or someone else constantly run to us for loans and finances instead of learning to be responsible in handling money, saving and waiting for things they want. In most cases our financial troubles are caused by impulsive buying and our willingness not to wait for something. There are times when I wish I had read the book of Proverbs earlier in life and kept the advice myself.

Pro 6:3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

Make sure our friends by not co-signing. Have friends that are real friends. We can't really have friends who are indebted to us or that we have to loan money to keep their friendship.

We can't buy real friends.

Pro 6:4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
Pro 6:5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

If we have already committed ourselves to guarantee someone's loan, do all we can to escape from that and restore our friend without the financial dept hanging over the friendship.

Pro 6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Pro 6:7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Pro 6:8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

In most cases the ones who run to their family and friends for co-signing and loans are sluggards who are not responsible and do not pay their own debts.

I know sometimes when our kids are first starting out buying a car, they may need a co-signer. We may have to do that to get them started but only if we taught them to be responsible and they are still living in our own homes so that we can urge them to pay the payments on time. Yet it would be better for them to save and buy it without co-signers. This teaches them to wait for things and work for them instead of demanding it now.

Pro 6:9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Pro 6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Pro 6:11 So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man.

If we don't work and save, we will end up in poverty. If we spend and do not wait, we end up in debt. God has a better way if we would only seek Him.

Pro 6:12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
Pro 6:13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
Pro 6:14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
Pro 6:15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

This is so true. One that borrows without paying back, is sneaky and deceptive, pretends to be a friend when he is pulling a fast one, will suffer calamity and be broken. We don't really get away with anything.

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Let us remember these with passion.

The Lord hates:

1. A proud look - Avoid pride. Pride exalts self over others. Pride goes just before a fall. Pride makes one think he or she is better than others. Pride leads to other sins. There also can be spiritual pride. We may be tempted to think the Lord favors us or our group above others. That is dangerous. We have nothing that we did not receive. We have nothing that God can't give to someone else we think less worthy. We are nothing that God can't make someone else to be. We need God for our survival, we are nothing in ourselves.

2. Lying tongue - We don't have to lie. Just tell the truth. Lying leads to more lying and it will soon find us out. Better to always tell the truth and be safe. The habit of lying to get out of bad situations can lead to blaming the innocent or false witness. Usually we lie to cast the blame on something or someone else. Better to take the blame and apologize than to lie.

3. Hands that shed innocent blood - Who is more innocent than a baby, a little child even one still in the womb of its mother? Some kill because having a baby is not convenient. Some kill to steal the possessions of another. Some kill the innocent to make a point or because they hate people of a certain religion or race. Some kill because they think they are doing God a favor. God hates all this. Jesus said that He came to save lives, not take them away. If we want to kill those that disagree with us, we are of the wrong spirit.

4. A heart that devises wicked imagination- We could imagine adultery, theft, murder or deceit. We could imagine things that puff up self over others. We could imagine getting the best over someone else. Beating out someone else a game or a promotion. Beating out the competitor in business. God has a better way if we trust Him. How many of us care just as much about someone else's business as we do our own? This isn't easy in today's world but we should always care about the competition and God will care about us.

5. Feet that be swift to run into mischief- Doing things in a hurry is usually the wrong way to do it. Hasty decisions have to be made in emergencies but in all other things, haste is usually 100% wrong. Notice that gangs and murderers are hasty and move quickly before they can think. If they think first, they may change their minds and back out of a bad thing. The bible is full of take heeds. In today's rush rush world, "take heed" is not usually our way but it is the way to be.

Pro 6:20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Pro 6:21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

If the commandments and laws of the father and mother are God's ways, then it will go well with all who follow them and do not depart from them.

Pro 6:22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

This is so true.

Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

This keeps us from all evil. Financial, lustful, greediness, selfishness, wastefulness, laziness and the list goes on.

Pro 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
Pro 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
Pro 6:26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
Pro 6:27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
Pro 6:28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
Pro 6:29 So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

Adultery and fornication lead so many to early death, ruin, guilt, destruction of families, disease and hell. Why we think it is pleasure, is hard to understand.

This applies to women as well as men. Women need to love their own husbands and keep their children safe.

Pro 6:30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
Pro 6:31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
Pro 6:32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

We have forgotten this and many are being destroyed along with the children. Do we even realize what a broken home does to a little child who once had a mother and father but now is torn between the two?
Our selfishness destroys us. TV makes it look glamorous and shows us a happy ending but it is deceptive and vain. The opposite is true.

Pro 6:33 A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
Pro 6:34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
Pro 6:35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

This warns of the natural result of adultery in many cases where jealousy will cause the hurt or death of the one committing adultery. While this does happen, there are many other things that destroy the adulterer besides the jealous husband. The fact that we were not content with what we already have and seek to take what is someone else's will follow us in all areas of our life. if we do not repent (change) our ways, we will never be happy. True happiness can never come by robbing someone else of their happiness.  I can promise that.

So far in the book of Proverbs I see so much wisdom that shows us a practical way to live our lives while we are in the body and absent from the Lord as far as visibly. To live by these ways will insure us safety. While the Psalms encourage us to worship, the Proverbs teach us the right way to live and get along in our world by setting a godly example.

PROVERBS 7