The Hazards that Lead to Bad Habits

Wisdom is as much about what we avoid as what we embrace. I would dare say it may even be more about what we avoid. Consider that Jesus defined the way of salvation as narrow and the way of destruction wide. In other words, as Salvation is exclusively experienced through the narrow path of Jesus' blood so life is well lived when we avoid the many dangers that lurk around us - seeking to devour our futures. 

Proverbs 20 starts by naming some hazards that lead to bad habits:
Proverbs 20:1–4 (ESV) Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. 2 The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion; whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life. 3 It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling. 4 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

Four dangers we are alerted to. Wine, angering authority, strife, and laziness. These are put together I believe because they all can become addictive behaviors in our lives. Notice the impact of each. Wine leads to fighting, breaking the law leads to capital punishment, strife leads to constant quarreling and laziness leads to starving. 

In other words, what starts out as something questionable can lead to disaster. We do well to identify these things from both the experience of those before us and the warnings of scripture here. 

Later in the chapter, Solomon asks a penetrating question:
Proverbs 20:9 (ESV) Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?

The answer is of course no one. So we do well to come to God for freedom from those destructive habits of life. 

How? By listening to Him.
Proverbs 20:12 (ESV) The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.

By absorbing wisdom from Him and others. 
Proverbs 20:18 (ESV) Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.

By trusting God's protective care.
Proverbs 20:22 (ESV) Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.

By letting Him discipline us through consistent moments of pain to preserve our lives from destruction.
Proverbs 20:30 (ESV) Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.

If we are going to survive the hazards of life, we have to yield our spirits to the Lord of life. But there's no quick fix and it has nothing to do with feelings. It has everything to do with a submissive heart that listens to God and allows Him to speak and prune our lives. 

Have you been through these seasons? Perhaps you need more of them? I think we all do. 

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