Prov 7:19 [ESV] For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey
When I first became a Christian I found this whole new thing opening up to me. I had this renewed understanding, a heightened awareness of what was right and what was wrong. It was like the words in the bible suddenly became alive, and made complete sense to me personally. Words that just a few days before held no value, no attraction, and no weight.
At the same time I became aware of temptation. For a time as a young Christian I came under the weight of thinking that temptation itself was wrong. How could I have these thoughts, or even desires, and could I possibly go through the rest of my life and never have a bad thought again?
A friend one day explained to me the Jesus was tempted to worship the devil, in Matthew 4:9. Suddenly, none of the temptations I was facing seemed all that terrible, and I realised that the temptation itself was not the issue, it was my response to it. I could be more like Jesus and declare – it is written. Nowadays I am not immune to temptations, but I am no longer focused on them, or allow them to unsettle me. I am willing to humble myself when I get it wrong, maybe saying a few harsh words for instance, and ask for forgiveness from the person I have offended. I think good advice I got as a young Christian was “keep short accounts with God.”
KNOWLEDGE rational points, or well thought out arguments are sometimes employed to cause you and I to make decisions tnat we later on regret. The old saying “act in haste, and repent at your leisure” comes to mind. Nelson Mandela said “may your decisions reflect your hopes not your fears.” And Wesam Fawzi said “the quality of your life is built on the quality of your decisions.” It’s so easy to drift off the right path in life, and the journey back can take longer, and cost more that we could imagine. It’s best if we choose to stay on the right path each day, that cost is negligible in comparison.
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 “gone” in Hebrew is pronounced “halak” and appears 1554 times in the Old Testament. It can mean to walk, or to fade away, to walk as a lifestyle, or a pattern of conduct.
In the LXX the Greek word used is πεπόρευται [peporeutai], and in the New testament the word is πορεύομαι [poreuomai] and this word is used 154 times, with the meaning of “to depart” or to “have gone”. The point being made in Prov 7:19, is that there is no risk of the husband appearing suddenly, as if that alone was a good reason for the sin.
WISDOM – Lust is a poor choice of companion for our life journey, it will leave us by the side of the road eventually.
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Self Assurance is a beautiful Strength, we back ourselves even when others don’t. Having a thinking partner who knows our biases can be super-helpful.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version –
For my husband – for my husband
is not at home – is not at home
he has gone – he is travelling
on a long journey – on far away roads
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to intentionally stay close to you each day.
To chat to me as a professional coach/mentor – allan@theallankey.com
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