Words from a Branch

My son, if sinners entice you,   do not consent.   If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood   let us ambush the innocent without reason;   like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods,   we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” my son, do not walk in the way with them;   hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil,   and they make haste to shed blood.   For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, but these men lie in wait for their own blood;   they set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;   it takes away the life of its possessors. Proverbs 1:10-18 ESV                 Peer pressure is nothing new; sinners love company and a...

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7 ESV             Those who would reject the fear of the Lord as the foundation of their philosophy, and would dethrone theology from her rightful place as queen of all sciences are indeed foolish. The rest of the book of Proverbs will detail their folly, but to summarize they do themselves harm. They are fools not because they displease God, though they do, or because they miss the fullness of truth, again they do; but because they inevitability secure their loss and destruction they are fools. This second half of 1:7 is then both a true statement and a warning. Would you be a fool? Then receive wise instruction and fear the Lord.             It is this fear of the Lord which humanity in its folly is prone to despise. Few if any like to be thought of as foolish or uned...