February 13, 2026 -- Proverbs 2:1, 9-12, 16-17 -- Choose wisdom. It is practical for daily life

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My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you…
Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity and every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech…
So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words,
who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God…
Proverbs 2:1, 9-12, 16-17 ESV
 
Choose wisdom, because it is your helper in every day, real circumstances. The opening chapters of Proverbs are set up as if a father, a mother, and a wise counselor were speaking with a child who needs to be instructed. A youngster needs so much instruction on the basics of the world, learning to distinguish evil from good. Perhaps even more importantly, what has the appearance of good, but is in fact, wicked or perverse.
 
The man (or woman) who treasures up the commandments of God will understand righteousness and justice. Righteousness has been described as the desire to be holy expressed in daily actions. Righteousness is eminently practical. Armed with a desire for righteousness, a man will set aside anything that might trip him up or block his path in pursuing God. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. You won’t constantly be kicking against the pathways of God but will realize the boundary lines God has established are right, good, and designed to spare you all kinds of heartache.
 
The world around you is coarse, rude, celebrates perverseness. Even the Olympic Games, which are supposed to celebrate competition, honour, and sportsmanship can be degenerate. You can find many news stories of scandals related to cheating, doping, and sexual perversions. Why mention this? The human heart is not naturally pure and good. Unchecked, the heart is devious and crooked. Unless you are aware of the condition of your heart, having been informed by wisdom and guarded by the Holy Spirit in every good path, you will readily succumb to the invitations to hang out with men who have not been taught in wisdom’s ways, and they will lead you in the perverseness of evil.
 
The Christian hears godless scientists proclaim there is no god and the goal of human life is reproduction. So, sex is celebrated in the world. It is everywhere. There is a clear difference between a man or a woman who knows the ways of wisdom being steeped in understanding, and the person who is not. The forbidden woman (the devious man) will enjoy sex with multiple partners. Or take part in sex outside the holy bonds of marriage. It is not the way of God. The Father in heaven has set up holy rules, makes a covenant with His people, teaching them how to live—to break the covenant is to scoop fire into your lap.
I can hear some readers protest. Does that mean, if I am not married, I am not supposed to have sex? Yes, that is exactly what it means. The push-back continues, but I like it. I want it. Yes, but you know there are many things which, if enjoyed without the proper rules and boundaries, will hurt you. (Medication, properly prescribed and taken in the right doses will heal you; taken off-label and addictively, will kill you.)
 
The ways of darkness lead a man (or woman) to continue to push-back, but you expect me to go without sex? Who can do that? Well, Jesus did. He was perfect. He also gives the Holy Spirit so that “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (II Peter 1:3). The very God Who sets these boundaries has provided the power to keep them. The very God Who has set these boundaries has also provided the gift of Jesus Christ, through Whom all our past sins and wicked actions have already been punished. If you have been convicted in your conscience and renewed in your desire for obedience, know that today is a new day. Confess your sin. Repent—turn from your sinful ways and make a new commitment to walk in the ways of righteousness. Find an accountability man (or if you are a woman, another woman) to whom you can confess your sin and seek to be righteous in your living. Stamp out the familiar ways of evil so that you can walk in the way of righteousness and justice and equity and every good path (verse 9).
 
O God, my Father, like Paul I cry out “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing^”. Sin is right there, near me, living in me. I pray, gracious Father, deliver me from this body of death through the great and gracious work of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord. By Your Spirit Who lives in us, renew our zeal for holiness and our help us to walk in true righteousness. Place us in holy community, so that with a dear Christian friend or two, we will walk together with integrity. Amen.
^Romans 7:19 ESV
 
https://youtu.be/k2qbq_zzbRE?si=TGkRJ-2YcWtS1cx7 There is Power in the Blood

 

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