My Daily Pause

Now, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say.
Don’t let yourself be tricked by such a woman;
don’t go where she leads you.
She has ruined many good men,
and many have died because of her.
Her house is on the road to death,
the road that leads down to the grave. – Proverbs 7:24-27 NCV

Both Solomon and David fell to the temptation of adultery and lust and suffered because of it. Is there any wonder that Proverbs is full of warnings about these sins? In the end, neither the victim nor the guilty receives any joy from adultery. The Bible shows us over and over again how far this removes us from God.

In A Mini-Marriage Clinic, I mentioned a few of the basics I have noticed were the core of every long lived marriage. Checking your boundaries is a critical one that deserves daily attention. The “road to the grave” (Proverbs 7:27 NCV) is littered with those that didn’t honor the limits God inferred they would keep when they said their vows.

We spend so much time in the workplace that it becomes an excellent place to find ourselves in tempting situations. The opportunity to do normal business activities unaccompanied with a person that is not our spouse are plentiful and is often the doorway for those who stray. To avoid the temptation, a few simple rules built around the idea of checking our boundaries can go a long way:

• No unaccompanied lunches with a member of the opposite sex
• No traveling alone with a member of the opposite sex
• No flirting, “cute” comments or even overly familiar conversations

The two most important relationships in your life are with God and your spouse. When a marriage is centered on God, the bonds with both become unbreakable. Mentioning both lovingly at every opportunity keeps us off the dark path.

Daily Bible reading for June 12

Proverbs 7
Deuteronomy 14
Hosea 11:1-11
Philemon 1-3

Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?

Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched? – Proverbs 6:27-28

Adultery is one of those sins that cut across several levels. From what I can tell from helping others who have dealt with it, it just isn’t very fun for either the innocent or the guilty party. Solomon says that the one who does it destroys himself, lacks sense and is despised. (Proverbs 6:20-35)

Just from informal observation, I can say that marriages that fail did so because a few basic steps were not followed. I also see people put more maintenance into their wealth, professional networking and hobbies than into their marriages. Interesting that they know that those things need attention to grow but wonder why their marriages aren’t great! (or failed for that matter)

While a 200 word essay and a Bible verse will not save a broken marriage, I offer you these basic building blocks that are common to all of the great, long lived marriages I’ve seen:

• Invest time in your relationship – Date night, share a hobby, just be together often
• Check your boundaries – Do not go anywhere unaccompanied with a member of the opposite sex
• Remember the risks -The one who cheats hurts their spouse, the kids, their parents, the in-laws and more

There is no quick and easy formula for a successful marriage, but working on it every day is the first step in building or rebuilding a strong and godly marriage.

Daily Bible reading for June 11

Proverbs 6:20-35
Deuteronomy 13
Hosea 10
Titus 3:12-15

There are six things the Lord hates.
There are seven things he cannot stand:

a proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
a mind that thinks up evil plans,
feet that are quick to do evil,
a witness who lies,
and someone who starts arguments among families

– Proverbs 6:16-19 NCV

One thing I really like about the Proverbs is directly they speak to us. These seven actions are involved with just about any sin we could commit – No wonder the Lord can’t stand them!

How then, can we be certain that our actions will lead to a life full of blessings?

Check out a few of these lists of ways:

• Matthew 5:3-10
• Philippians 4:4-9
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
• Galatians 5:22-23

Daily Bible reading for June 10

Proverbs 6:1-19
Deuteronomy 12
Hosea 9
Titus 3:8b-11

 ⁷ Now, my sons, listen to me,
and don’t ignore what I say.
⁸ Stay away from such a woman.
Don’t even go near the door of her house,
⁹ or you will give your riches to others,
and the best years of your life will be given to someone cruel.
¹⁰ Strangers will enjoy your wealth,
and what you worked so hard for will go to someone else.
¹¹ You will groan at the end of your life
when your health is gone.
¹² Then you will say, “I hated being told what to do!
I would not listen to correction!
¹³ I would not listen to my teachers
or pay attention to my instructors.
¹⁴ I came close to being completely ruined
in front of a whole group of people.” – Proverbs 5:7-14 NCV

What are some things you have difficulty resisting?
Why do you avoid them?
Why does our resistance fail sometimes?

Temptation is a part of life everyone faces. Jesus wrestled with it (Matthew 4:1-11) and showed us how to overcome it.

Some situations need to be avoided at all costs. Solomon says not to even go near the door (Proverbs 5:8) and Paul says to flee from them (2 Timothy 2:22). Obeying this means making some difficult decisions – You may have to change your job, friends, sources of entertainment and maybe even dodge certain family members. Most of us tend to be like the five people we hang around the most.

Solomon’s wisdom is to think about the end result of what we do. What habit do you need to change before it is too late?

Daily Bible reading for June 9

Proverbs 5
Deuteronomy 10:12-11:32
Hosea 8
Titus 3:1-8a

Little Things Mean a Lot – What a cliché! Do we even really believe that?

Little things add up

Just how important are the little things we do?

• Solomon wrote of four creatures that we view as being small and insignificant; yet, in God’s sight, they are considered exceedingly wise (Proverbs 30:24-28)
• Jesus was born in of the smallest and most insignificant towns in Israel (Micah 5:2)
• Jesus once compared the kingdom of God to the large tree that would give shelter to the birds of the air, yet it had its beginnings as a tiny mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32)
• Tabitha did all sorts of good works, and by some, her activities may have been considered small matters (Acts 9:36-42)
• Jesus took special notice of a poor widow who cast two mites into the treasury while many were casting in of their abundance (Luke 21:1-4)

The little things can carry a lot of weight

Paul ran down a list of ways just about every class of person is supposed to “adorn the doctrine” in Titus 2. These are lots of small and easy to do things that, when they are all compiled, make God look good.

Ants can carry many times their weight to prepare for Winter Proverbs 30:25

There are so many little gestures that we as Christians can do make encourage someone or brighten their day:

• A smile for someone in the grocery store,
• A card to someone who is sick or in need of encouragement
• A phone call to let someone know that you were thinking of him or her
• A visit to a shut-in
• A meal to a family who has lost a loved one
• A word of encouragement to a fellow brother or sister in Christ

The list goes on and the actions are small, but just a few minutes can really make a difference to someone! As a parting thought, we are reminded in Matthew 25:34-40 of how when we do these things, we are actually doing them to our Lord.

Daily Bible reading for May 8

Proverbs 4
Deuteronomy 9:6-10:11
Hosea 6-7
Titus 2