Thirty-One Days of Proverbs, Day 5
Today, I'm going to give you a small glimpse of a piece of my personal life because I believe this piece to be very fitting for today's passage.
I am not the wife of my husband's youth, and this fact is something that has been on my mind lately, specifically because of chapters like Proverbs 5. I admit that I would feel better about this topic had I been my husband's first wife and if I were able to be called the wife of his youth. But I'm not, and I can't be. So sometimes it leaves me wondering.
Sometimes I find myself getting anxious about the standing of my marriage in God's eyes and I wish my husband and I could both go back in time and do a few things over so we could both be each other's only spouse. And, worse yet, I wonder what sort of things about my marriage and the times leading up to it that I might have to answer for when I get to Heaven and stand face to face with Christ. But then I remember that I'm a justified, sanctified, and glorified saint in Christ (Romans 8:30) and all my sins have been forgiven. I won't have to answer for my sins because they no longer exist in God's eyes (Psalm 103:12). Christ has already answered for my sins. The judgement I will face as a saved sinner will be a much different judgement than the one which a lost sinner will face. And this knowledge brings me comfort.
Sometimes it's so easy to let Satan place doubt in my heart and to allow him to accuse me to my own face. Sometimes it's easy to believe his accusations. But this is why I know that I must stay in the Word and why I must stay connected to Christ in prayer. When I do this, God's voice becomes increasingly louder in my life and Satan's, increasingly quieter.
Do not fear, my God says. And submit yourself to your husband. My husband is the only husband I've ever had, even if I'm not the only wife he's ever had. I will love and honor him and submit to him as God expects and I commit to stop worrying about things I cannot change.
Here is the text for today:
Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
You can read the entire 31 daily Proverbs devotional series by clicking here.
Do you know, if you were to die today, whether or not you'll go to be with Christ after you die? Are you 100% and completely assured of your salvation? If not, please take the time to read this salvation message today. There is nothing more important than giving your life to Christ and securing your place in eternity. I pray the Holy Spirit leads you to a personal relationship with Christ today, and I pray that you follow where the Holy Spirit leads you.
