The Sister Letters

The Proverbs Challenge Day 6 - Chapter 6

Hi, Woman of God

Welcome to Day 6 of the Challenge!Happy first Saturday of the year! I hope you have a blessed and safe weekend ahead.See below my study notes for today's chapter using the S.O.A.P method. I had more time today to delve deeper into the Chapter so I hope you enjoy these takeaways. Feel free to share yours too! 

SCRIPTURE

Proverbs Chapter 6 (the chapter as a whole). 

OBSERVATION

This chapter covers wisdom in so many areas. I’ll break it down in the ways that ministered to me. verses 1-5These verses ministered to me about the importance of keeping our word and how seriously we should take this. If we have agreed to do something that we know we can't fulfil, then we should ask to be released from that commitment. When we speak, our yes should be yes and our no should be no. I am seeking God for a fuller revelation of the importance of this, but currently, I understand that we as believers are called to speak life and death over situations, circumstances and issues. We are called to operate under God's authority. Therefore, we need to understand the weight of our words. We need to believe that what we speak according to the Word of God will come to fruition. God, help us to speak in Your authority and stand by our words.  verses 6-11These verses speak on self discipline and how sleep and slumber will be your biggest enemy of progress. It challenges us to apply discipline and put our flesh under submission. A hard pill to swallow but a major principle against poverty, one that should be heeded by anyone desiring to do great things with their life.verses 12-15These verses describe the ways of a wicked man and his inevitable fate. The word “suddenly” is used twice to show how his end will come. It is humbling to think that the wicked may appear successful for a long time, but when their calamity falls upon them it will be sudden, seemingly coming from nowhere. But a wicked man would have had many opportunities to repent which he failed to heed.verses 16-19We see in these verses some specific things that are an abomination to God. My key observation is how common those things that God calls abominations are to us. Lying is mentioned twice yet this is so common to us. This reminds me of the verse yesterday about how God ponders all our ways and paths. Something like a lying tongue or a proud look may seem small to us but God sees the inevitable end, He sees where that path leads to and He sees the full repercussions that we are not privy to due to our limited perspective.He is also the only one who is able to help us overcome these weaknesses of the flesh. The closer we get to Him the more our propensity for these things will fade. Our priority should be to seek Him and continue to look at His glory, and as we do so we are being transformed day by day into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). verses 20 - 23Solomon is adamant that the reader understands how wise counsel and instruction is the way to life. He wants us to know that to heed instruction is to be protected from every wrong path, including adultery which he elaborates on for the rest of the chapter.verses 20-35The transgression of adultery is clearly a trap that Solomon is passionate about warning readers about. He continues from yesterday’s chapter to warn against falling into this and suffering the consequences.“A man is reduced to a crust of bread” (verse 26 / NKJV) ... y’all… a crust of bread is crazy!!I am convinced that having a true revelation of this will save you from falling into the sin of adultery. Wisdom will make you flee like Joseph did when seduced by Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39).Verse 33 also stands out to me here because the way it says “his reproach will not be wiped away” seems hard to swallow. Yet when I compare King David and Joseph, both men of God, I see this statement to be true. It is forever recorded that King David fell to this transgression and Joseph overcame it. History records this and as we explored yesterday, even though God still used him as great man of God, David certainly suffered the consequences of his sin. However, still to this day, Joseph is an example of a man who overcame this great temptation. There is so much to learn from these two men of God. There are many things about King David I love, and in humility he teaches me how even the greatest men of God can fall to temptation when we are in seasons where our eyes are not fixed firmly on God. There is wisdom to glean about what made David vulnerable to this temptation at the time he fell, but I will explore this another time. May we learn from Joseph's example and pursue the protection of wisdom that we may overcome temptation. Lastly, I find the subtle comparison made in this chapter between a starving thief stealing (verse 30) and a man who sleeps with another person’s wife (verse 32) very interesting. People don’t despise the thief (seeing it as a “lesser” sin) yet the man who commits adultery will face the vengeance of a husbands fury. This shows how we as human beings view sin in levels, from the worst to not as bad. However from God’s perspective all sin destroys. Something as small to us as a proud look is an abomination to Him because He sees the heart and where the long term consequences lead (whilst we only see in the short term). Praise God for teaching us His ways, that through wisdom we can see far beyond our perspective!

APPLICATION

Lord, Your Word is so vast. From one chapter You have revealed all these things. And there is so much more to see. I will continue to search it and seek diligently each day, even if some days its just for a short time, but I will build the habit of studying Your word that I may know Your wisdom and be a good example with my life. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your spirit who makes all things new. Thank You for washing away all the sins of my past, the ones I know and the ones that I do not know, and giving me wisdom as I navigate the path You have set so beautifully before me. I receive Your grace to follow Your instructions and I receive the desire to sit at Your feet and study Your word. I pray that this new year You shall raise up more men and women who hunger and thirst for Your truth, who have a desire for your Word and who have the gift to communicate it to the world. All this I pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

See you tomorrow for Day 7, Sis.Follow me on Instagram at @creatortochi for updates and encouragement throughout our challenge. With my love,Tochi