Proverbs 6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,
This scripture has me thinking about all the amazing families that have invited me into their hearts and homes over the years.
I would babysit for one couple, for their gorgeous golden-haired boy and girl. They would be around five and six years old. We would play wrestle on the sofa and the rugs where I would turn into the tickle monster and we would laugh for hours, way past their bedtimes.
Another family I would hang out with and we would play board games and eat dinner and watch movies together, their children sitting next to me as we worked through whatever sweet treats were available. We would play games writing words with our fingers on each other’s backs and then trying to guess the words.
Further south there was another family and their children loved to search for the mysterious golden hair that was somewhere in my beard, that’s when we were not playing games of two-touch soccer in the front garden.
One family invited me into their whole world, and on Sundays, I would join them for dinner, as three generations sat around the table enjoying their Italian heritage and grandma’s home cooking.
The list could go on and on. All these families impacted my world. I saw love in action, I saw parents loving their children, open doors, messy houses, fun, food and family. There are at least another ten families I could write about here. I’m so grateful to a God that would time and time again bring me to the place in my heart where there was hurt, and pour in healing, where there was fear, and stir up faith, and where there was lack, and fill it with love. Thank you, my father.
KNOWLEDGE
Here we see the connections and intentionality of the choices that are made. The inner person has been given over to be determined by thoughts and ideas of how to gain at others cost. It is all-consuming, every minute of every day is filled with scheming. But it doesn’t stop there. It moves past the internal workings at speed.
No sooner is a scheme devised than it’s put into action. There is haste, and urgency, a disquiet about inactivity. This person is convincing and committed, they are industrious and intelligent. Quite possibly this person is wealthy and seems wise.
But let’s look back to verse sixteen and remember that these attributes of the heart and feet are part of a list of things that the inspired writer of these verses states that the Lord hates. Time to pause and let that sink in.
What is in my heart today, and where will my feet take me?
I think like you dear reader I am urgently reminding myself that Christ himself lives in my heart, and even now I am checking every door to every compartment and ensuring He has full unrestricted access today. He can go backstage, to the green room, and to the private car park with no barriers and no security stops.
UNDERSTANDING
Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word for “devises” in Hebrew is pronounced as “haras” and is found 71 times in the Old Testament. In the ESV this word is translated into the English words, silence; [held his] peace; say nothing; plough [iniquity]; quiet; cease; plotting; engraved [on the tablet of their heart]; and, deaf.
Here in verse 18, we can pick up on the idea of ploughing and plotting, so we see the intentionality and active participation. This is no accident or oversight but is deliberate and committed.
WISDOM – what in my life am I running towards?
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Activator, the A, B, C, or activator – Action without Agenda; Breaking Bottlenecks; and, Courage and Consistency.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – [the inner person, the seat of all thoughts and emotions has calamity, trouble, and injustice, inscribed on it. The legs and feet scheme rashly to be messengers of wickedness.]
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to guard my heart and run towards you each day. Thank you!
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