Avoiding the Land Minds of Life

One of the great things about Proverbs is that it makes no small issue of the very real dangers of life. They are everywhere. Traps await the simple-minded and the fool. If you want to live long and prosper, go to the Proverbs. 

Proverbs 6 introduces four sections dealing with these traps in life. 

Proverbs 6:1–5 (ESV) My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, 2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, 3 then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. 4 Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; 5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

The first trap is the trap of legal entanglements. Be quick to get out of those snares which make you liable to another's potential folly. Notice the word, "stranger". It is not wrong to get involved financially with people you know, but be very careful to avoid doing so with someone you have just met. Even big banks speak of having a banking "relationship" with their customers - that is a history of deposits and withdrawals that make them a trustworthy client. There is great wisdom in that. The 2008 financial crisis was caused by people getting into debt with risky banks based on predatory lending practices. History remembers well what that did to so many. 

Proverbs 6:6–11 (ESV) Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

The second trap is laziness. Do you want to be poor? Fold your hands and do nothing. Give your life to sleep and recreation without any forethought, planning, or serious effort. Even the smallest of creatures know you must prepare for the future. The Proverb asks how long will you sleep? I have made it a habit (naturally and through activity) to wake up early. There is something wonderful about those early morning hours. The quiet, the extra time to get a jump on the day's events. You avoid so much disaster when you are early to rise and hard at work. 

Proverbs 6:12–15 (ESV) A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, 13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, 14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; 15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

The third trap is a crooked lifestyle. This is a person of dishonest character who manipulates and contorts the truth to gain an advantage in life. You may get a jump early in the race, but eventually, your own record will catch up to you and no one will want to do business with you. 

Proverbs 6:16–19 (ESV) There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

This last trap is a lack of self-control. Notice that in each item listed that the Lord hates a different body part is mentioned. Eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet... they are the parts of your body that create movement. And when they are given to evil, the Lord rejects them. Your body can be a tool of immense good or self-destruction. Paul commends us in Romans 6.

Romans 6:13–14 (ESV) Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

In the end, these traps are listed to preserve us with warnings for our future. God wants long and prosperous life, but there are land-minds waiting in the path. God is faithful to give you both a reality check to these dangers and the principles to avoid them. 

If we consider Jesus, He is the true friend who put Himself up for our sins, finished the hard work of accomplishing our salvation, spoke the truth, and embodied it. He is the true Wise man we follow and trust to bring us abundant life.