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.” ~Proverbs 1:10-14
“my son, if sinners entice you, do not consent”- The devil will use anyone to try to persuade you to sin. There is a reason why the Lord commands that we not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever.[1] For what partnership does righteousness have with lawlessness? Be prudent and vigilant, the devil roams around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and his schemes can be executed through any avenue of approach. Temptation can come from supposed friends, family and loved ones. Be like a soldier in the trenches, ever watchful of his surroundings. Keep aware of all avenues of approach. I can remember a time that I was ministering to a couple who were coming to our church for some time and we had dinner with them one night. The whole night they asked questions concerning God, the gospel and the faith. I thought it went well and I prayed that the Lord would do a work in their hearts to save them. A few days later they called me to ask if I would give them a sample of my urine because they had done drugs and had to take a drug test for a job opportunity. At that moment I knew that I was being tested. I could have easily given them the sample so that I wouldn’t “damage the friendship”. I could have easily justified my actions but I said no and because of it they no longer go to church and they have never contacted me again. Sin is always at the door, waiting for an opportunity to catch you in its snare.
“If they say, ‘come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, lePot us ambush the innocent without reason”- There are brutal people in the world just waiting to take advantage of people. There are those who sit around, plotting the demise of another. Murderous and covetous hearts lie in the inner being of every individual and it lies within you. Do not give a chance for that inner monster to creep out of you. If you are in Christ, that is no longer who you are. Crucify that old man in you the moment he tries to rise from his death.
“like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the pit”- There are monsters that lie at the bottom of the pit of death. They wait in their darkness for the opportunity to pop out and strike their victim, dragging them down alive into the pit with them. If these remarks make you shutter at the evil intentions of humanity, that is wisdom and prudence creeping into your heart. As followers of Christ we hope that the men and women that we engage with are decent and have relatively good intentions, but we should never assume that they do. There is a ravenous wolf dwelling in the hearts of all people, and I am convinced that under the right circumstances, with no sense of immediate consequence, the majority of people can become murderous tyrants. Just look at what happens during riots. Droves of people, unstoppable by any common use of force, destroying one another, beating each other, robbing each other, murdering each other and dragging one another into the depths of their own dark, twisted world. We are children of the light, sons and daughters of God. Far be it from us that we would ever consider acting accordingly! We should lift up, not bring down. We are children of life, not of death.
“We shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder”- What other reason do people have to act this way other than their own selfish gain. “Thou shalt not covet” because covetousness leads to jealousy and jealousy leads to hatred toward the one who has. Dwell in that hatred long enough and the heart can become murderous. So then, you rob and you murder, and you take for yourself another’s gold, and now you are a rich person. What will stop the next covetous person from doing the same to you? Do you not see the vicious cycle of the covetous heart? Be content in the things that the Lord has given you. Give glory to God in times of plentiful and in times of little. In doing so, you will guard your heart from the evils that lie in the pit of darkness.
“throw in your lot among us; we will have one purse”- Only the fool will believe the promises of the thief and murderer. One moment they are promising your lot with their plunder and the next you are the victim of their murderous hearts. You see it in every system of power. Socialism promises you the equal outcome of wealth and power, but the evil that reigns in the hearts of the men who govern those systems have been responsible for many of the 20th century’s greatest atrocities. Mao, Pol Pot, Lenon, Castor and many others promised riches and glories to their people only to turn on them, causing deaths in the tens of millions. You see this in Ponzi Schemes, covetous men running a false organization, promising quick riches and profitable returns only to discover that they are swallowing up widows houses and unjustly draining the little that the poor have. And the church is not without fault! You see this in the “prosperity gospel”. Men and women using the name of God to take from the poor to buy multimillion dollar homes, jets and boats, all the while the poor that give them money have been promised a lot among their riches, never to see anything. Oh how evil are the hearts of men and women! May we refrain from taking advantage of the poor, the widow and the powerless. If we do not we shall inquire the wrath of God upon our heads.
And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.
Luke 20:45-47
[1] 2 Corinthians 6:14
Reformed Perspective 