Those beautiful warm and sunny days when the sun is out longer than any other time of the year! Spring with its planting and growing times and rain has wound down. You can begin to see the tiny promise of fruit coming on the trees just behind those spring flowers. The sunshine tends to make you forget the cloudy times the rains came in spring and if you aren't careful you can be lulled into thinking that the good times of summer will last forever.
And so it is with our 'summertime' of life. Whether you are a young Christian teen facing the reality of the adult world of responsibility, or maybe you've never been given the advantage of growing up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; either way that first step into adulthood can be a real pleasure and a shock!
It’s like the first heat wave of summer. You've been looking forward to it for so long, and then when it finally gets here--the heat feels good, until the sunburn comes.
The excitement of knowing that you can go your own way, that magical age of ‘21’ myth, and then the shock as you find that your way really does hold consequences that you don’t always want to face.
But you are here, there is no going back to spring, or childhood, the summer of adulthood must be faced. Do you jump headlong into it or do you look for and listen to someone wiser to be your guide? Proverbs chapters three and four are devoted to counseling a young person as they step into this new area of life. It is a chapter that needs to be read again and again as you face the decisions that will come.The summer of your life is a time of choices and decisions, both of which will now be up to you.
Do you choose to continue your education, or do you go straight into the workforce? Do you plan to marry that sweetheart and start a family, or do you choose to remain single and go after a career dream? Verses 5 and 6 of proverbs chapter three are wise counsel for any age. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Go to the Lord first and lay the choices in front of Him. Remember that He has made you for a purpose, and He knows you better than you do yourself.
He will never counsel you to attend a college or start a job that is going to put you in the middle of something that will stop you from doing what he made you for.
If you choose a family He will never counsel you to put others ahead of the needs of your family, even if it is ministry related.
If you choose a career He will never counsel you to pursue it to the point that it comes ahead of your time with Him.
Many times as young people reach this age, they break ties to their childhood and go to others, many times those of their own age for advice as to how to do things. When you read the Word of God, you will see that almost every time a person goes to 'friends' for advice, they get into trouble, unless that advice from the friend starts with asking the Lord first. This is why Solomon asks the question:
“And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?” Proverbs 5:20
Since many of these words are not used today in the sense Solomon is speaking here, I decided to use the dictionary to find the meaning of the verse.
Did you know that the definition of the word ravish in this verse means "to be grabbed hold of and carried off" ?
The word embrace here means to receive gladly or eagerly, to accept willingly,
and finally the word bosom as Solomon uses it here means the center of feelings or emotions.
Since the word woman can mean either a man or woman in this case let’s look at what
Solomon is saying in modern language.He is asking the question:
“Why will you, my son, go to a stranger and willingly allow them to carry you away from truth with their ideas and emotions.”
He is warning you to stick with the Lord and His teachings. They are never out of date, and they will help you through every decision that you will be faced with. Always put your choices before the Lord in prayer and ask Him which his plan is for you, search His word for His thoughts on how He wants you to live your life.
He gives very specific instructions for education, for marriage and families, and for careers. That is why it is so important for you to know what the Bible says.
Remember: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Proverbs 1:7
There is so much more he wants to teach and give you after you have met and accepted him. And He will teach you step by step if you will submit to listen and study and follow Him.
God Bless,
Carrie
No comments:
Post a Comment