Day 34
Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; Psalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35
Fire Next to Our Chest
What is the difference in perspective between a child and a mature adult when it comes to laws? The child sees rules only as restrictions to their desires, and the mature person has come to understand both the protective compassion and the potential consequences surrounding those laws. The adult understands that the punitive consequences are usually the small ones. The damage to relationships can be much more devastating. Proverbs today explores this theme around the Scriptural commandments against adultery.
So the first thing that becomes clear from this passage (starting back at v. 20) is that our desires are not always trustworthy. According to the writer, “following your heart,” a popular axiom of our day, is a recipe for disastrous living. “How can you expect,” asks the writer, “to hold fire next to your chest and not be burned?”
The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). So we must trust that God’s commands will lead us not to be “holier than thou” or not to take away our fun, so much as to rescuing us from deep pits and protecting the trust and love of those closest to us. James 4:7-8 admonishes us likewise to “resist the devil and he will flee from you,” and to “draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Our call then is to train ourselves to run from our own unfettered, unholy desires into the arms of a loving Father.
Kent Madison