Daily Proverb - Proverbs, Chapter 6

Warnings about the lazy and more on adultery!

^"6Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!  ⁷It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, ⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.  ⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?  When will you get up from your sleep?  ¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - ¹¹and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

²³For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way of life, ²⁴keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.  ²⁵Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, ²⁶for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.  ²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?  ²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?  ²⁹So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished."

In the first six verses of our text today we see the warning to the lazy.  God's plan is that we work for our bread.  We see that the little tiny ant is an example of discipline.  No boss to keep it moving and yet the ant is wise, it gathers and stores its food.  The word "sluggard" is used to describe those who just want to sleep all the time.  We are warned that poverty is the result of our sin of laziness!  So if you were ever wondering where the idea of working for a living came from, now you know.  God wants us to be productive and work!

To further the lesson on adultery, more on this destructive behavior is found in chapter 6.  Verse 23 again reminds us that "these commands are a lamp, the teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are a way to life".  The next six verses again warn of the adulterous woman!  Verse 26 gives more on the result of falling captive to her eyes, she will reduce you to a loaf of bread.  And just in case you thought you might get away with adultery, not reaping pain from this sin, read verses 27-29.  The way of the sinner is hard!  Remember that pain will be a direct result of adultery, so don't go there!  It is best to enjoy the Godly way, the wise way, as found in the book of Proverbs.