The Sluggard
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. (Proverbs 6:6,9,12-15 ESV)
A sluggard is a person who is idle, lazy, loafing, apathetic, and lethargic. In the New Testament we are encouraged to admonish the one who claims to be a brother or a sister in Christ but who is idle. And we are also warned to keep away from a brother or a sister who is walking (in conduct, in practice) in idleness (1 Thessalonians 5:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:6).
For as followers of Christ, even if we are living off of our retirement money and no longer have to work for pay, we are still to be doing the work of the Lord that he has called us to do. For our lives now belong to God/Jesus, and we are his possession, and he is our Lord (Owner-Master), and so we are to be working for him full-time and not for ourselves.
Yet, many who are professing faith in Jesus Christ are being spiritually lazy (slothful), and their lives are not dedicated to the Lord and to his service but to serving self. They are all caught up in the ways of this sinful world and its desires, and so they are neglecting to follow after the desires that the Lord has for their lives, for which he created them and planned to use them.
And since their minds are set on the flesh and on pleasing the flesh and not on God and on his requirements for their lives, they waste away their lives which could be lived for the Lord by doing what their flesh wants, instead. And so they don’t have the mind of Christ, and thus they are following what their perverted hearts desire, instead.
Now this says that calamity will come upon him suddenly. In a moment he will be broken beyond healing. Now this could be at the coming of the Lord when he returns to judge and to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity. For that will be sudden and without warning. But this might also happen in someone’s lifetime on this earth when the Lord says, “Enough is enough!” and he decides that the person needs to be judged in some way.
Things God Hates
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV)
I hate these things, too. For as followers of Christ we are to love what he loves, and we are to hate what he hates. Now we are not to hate other human beings, not even our enemies. We are to love our enemies and pray for them and do good to them and we are to bless them, i.e. to do for them and to say to them what is beneficial for them in the eyes of the Lord.
But we are to hate lies and lying tongues and false witnesses who breathe out lies (anything to do with lies and deception and manipulation and misimpressions and subliminal messages, etc.). We are to hate pride and selfishness and godlessness and murder and adultery and evil plots which are divisive and which end up hurting other people intentionally.
Those Who Commit Adultery
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away. (Proverbs 6:23-25,32-33 ESV)
Those who commit adultery are not just those who are married to one person but who have sex with someone else to whom they are not married. Jesus said that “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). So adultery does not require a physical act to take place, for it can take place in a person’s heart if he/she looks at another with lustful intent.
Therefore this can include but is not limited to just sexual fantasies and the viewing of sexually suggestive and/or explicit movies or videos or cartoons, and to self-gratification, flirtations, extramarital affairs, and romantic movies, particularly where adultery is romanticized. For if you find yourself lusting after a movie actor or actress, it is still lust, and so it is still adultery. And we are to be faithful to God and to our spouses in every way.
So, the person who commits adultery even once lacks sense. But the person who commits adultery as a continual life practice definitely lacks more than just sense, but that person is lacking in a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, for he or she is lacking in integrity, moral purity, honesty, agape love, faithfulness, holiness, godliness, and in obedience to the Lord. For the Bible teaches that if sin is our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
And that goes right along with these last two verses where it says that the adulterer (or adulteress) destroys himself (or herself). And this is so true. And if he or she does not repent of (cease and desist from) their habitual and deliberate sins against the Lord, and against their spouses, and against any others they may involve in their adulteries, their disgrace will not be wiped out, and heaven will not be what awaits them.
So, don’t be a sluggard. Don’t waste your life away on self-pleasure. Don’t be a liar. Don’t be one who practices deceit and hypocrisy and indirect as well as direct lies of any kind. And don’t be one who practices what God calls adultery in any of its various forms, and there are many. But surrender your lives to Jesus Christ as living sacrifices to him, holy and pleasing to him, and now follow after his ways and his truth.
And now love God with agape love which prefers what he prefers, which is what is upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. And love your spouses with this same kind of love, and treat them as you ought with honor, respect, and value. And honor your marriage covenant and be faithful and honest in your marriage relationship. And then love all people with this agape love which prefers what God prefers and serve God with your life and not self, and you will be blessed.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70
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