Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 200 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Proverbs [6:30]-35 Lessons for Daily Life #5
Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 200 of our Trek, and for one final day, we will stay at camp digging for nuggets of wisdom as we continue our exploration into the book of Proverbs Chapter 6. Yesterday we explored verses 20-29, and today we will dig into verses 30-35. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. There has been a lot of work and activities this week, but we continue on each day accomplishing all that we can.
If our plans do not change, Paula and I will head to Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday for our annual Christmas visit. Biltmore is America’s largest home and with its 250 rooms is magnificent to visit any time of the year, but when it is decorated for Christmas, it is a site to behold. We do look forward to these short excursions that we are able to take, even with a busy schedule. As I continually try to learn to be a good and wise husband, I am still learning the importance of these times away from our work to spend with each other.
We will remain at camp for another day as we finish up Proverbs Chapter 6 digging deep for additional nuggets of wisdom that we can digest. As we accumulate this wisdom, it helps us to create that living legacy each day so we can impact our world throughout eternity. Never underestimate the value that you bring into the world with just a single act of kindness.
To use an analogy for our life, gathering together with like-minded people around a campfire is always a reflective time – a time to share stories, to laugh, and to enjoy each other’s company. As I reflect back over this past year, we have been able to accomplish a significant amount by God’s grace and also your support. Today our Wisdom-Trek passes the 200th day of our trek. The time really has rushed by.
I want to thank you for being on this trek of life with me over these 200 days. I have really enjoyed being your guide and your mentor but most importantly your friend. Please leave a comment at Wisdom-Trek.com or email me at guthrie@venturecg.com, and let me know how our days together have impacted your life. Also, let me know how I can improve so the next 200 days bring an even greater impact. Thank you in advance.
For today, let’s get started and dig for more nuggets of wisdom as we explore Proverbs Chapter [6:30:35]. This chapter in Proverbs is referred to as…
Lessons for Daily Life
Today I will read the entire passage, and then we will break it down into small segments as we dive deeper into our exploration.
30 Excuses might be found for a thief
who steals because he is starving.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,
even if he has to sell everything in his house.
32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,
for he destroys himself.
33 He will be wounded and disgraced.
His shame will never be erased.
34 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation,
nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
So now let’s do a deep dive into the verses.
30 Excuses might be found for a thief
who steals because he is starving.
31 But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole,
even if he has to sell everything in his house.
We can understand somewhat the plight of this thief although we should not excuse the actions. This thief is hungry. He has no food. His family would also have no food. So, this thief steals because he is starving. We can sympathize with him. However, there need to be consequences for wrong decisions that we make. In this case, the law will punish him. It is not the laws purpose to forgive this person. God forgives, and we should also. But the law does not forgive. The law does not ask if he needed food. His punishment is severe. He is to pay back seven times what he stole, even if it takes all possessions that he has.
Some people do wrong actions because they hate God. Other people sincerely want to do good things, but they still do evil things. Before we become too judgmental, we need to realize that everyone must trust in God because everyone does wrong actions. James 2:10-11 tells us this clearly, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, ‘You must not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘You must not murder.’ So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.”
Let’s move to exploring verses 32-35. These three verses are actually a comparison to the previous two. Although we feel that stealing is reprehensible, there is another type of wrong choice that is even more so.
32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool,
for he destroys himself.
33 He will be wounded and disgraced.
His shame will never be erased.
34 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation,
nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
While the thief stole to satisfy his physical appetite of hunger, the man in this passage makes wrong choices to satisfy his sexual appetite. Both are wrong. While we may feel sympathy for the thief, God calls the man that is unfaithful an utter fool. That is pretty strong language, but it shows the heart of God about purity. In addition to being a fool, a person who commits adultery will have a worse punishment. In this passage, this man had sex with another man’s wife. He receives a double punishment because his actions were foolish and wrong. There is a strong possibility when he is found out, he may also receive punishment from the angry husband. While many times in our “civilized” society we don’t see as much physical violence from the offended spouse, but we sure see the wreckage of broken homes and kids. The punishment is severe to many more than just those physically involved.
The Bible says that God will be angry. If we choose to make unwise and wrong decisions, then God is angry about our wrong behavior. He is angry when our actions are unfair. He is angry with us if we turn against him. A man’s anger may be terrible. God’s anger is much worse because God’s anger is a righteous anger.
We are utter fools when we choose wrong behaviors. We should not be fooled about the consequences of our continual wrong actions if we do not turn back to God, as is explained in Ephesians 5:6, “Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.”
God is angry, but he also loves us. Here is Micah’s prayer to God in Chapter 7 verses 18 and 19.
18 Where is another God like you,
who pardons the guilt of the remnant,
overlooking the sins of his special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever,
because you delight in showing unfailing love.
19 Once again you will have compassion on us.
You will trample our sins under your feet
and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
Today we dug up more important wisdom nuggets. There is such a treasury of wisdom found in the pages of Proverbs. We will make it a regular habit to dig for those nuggets throughout our trek of life. Let’s learn to obey God’s commands and make wise choices each day of our life. One of those choices is to live an impactful legacy each day in your world. As you make wise choices also encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Between now and Christmas, we will turn our focus to gain wisdom by learning more about the rich and satisfying life that Jesus brings to us. That is the reason to celebrate.
That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!