Prov 7:15 [ESV] so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
I remember in the UK stopping to chat to someone in the shopping mall, and the next thing I knew we were in a hotel meeting room with a few other couples listening to a gentleman tell us about a amazing bargain holiday subscription. If we paid several thousand pounds we could have all these amazing holidays every year of the rest of our lives, as long as we paid for the holidays before we went on them. The hook to get us along was that we would be allowed to have one free holiday to experience this before we signed up.
We did not sign up on the day I am glad to report, although there was a lot of pressure to do that – the usual “this offer expires after today…” Etc.
When we tried to activate our free holiday weekend experience it was almost impossible – the dates and times were so restrictive and the extra costs that were not included meant there was nothing there really worth anything.
So, the lesson was ……if something looks too good to be true, then it invariably is. The only exception I can think of, is the Gospel message.
KNOWLEDGE – if something seems too good to be true, then it is too good to be true. Sin dresses itself up in light, in half-truths, even in mis-aligned scripture. Sin desires to have us, to control us, and to lead us quicky down the path to despair and destruction. It is no game – it is life and death.
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 used for “seek earnestly” in Hebrew is pronounced as “sahar” – to seek, to look, to earnestly seek, search for.
In the LXX Prov 7:15 – “Because of this I come forth for meeting you; feeling the absence of your face I have found you.”
The word used for found you is – εύρηκά [eureka] – there is such a symbolism of truth here – the seeking, the desiring to seek your face, the eureka moment – yet it is all counterfeit. All deception.
In the LXX Prov 4:23 reads as “with all you have give heed to your heart for from out of these very things are the issues of your daily life”
WISDOM – Pray daily for discernment, and practice daily the truth of Proverbs 4:23 – [ESV] Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. What we let into our hearts influences what comes out of our hearts, and then where our eyes, hands, and feet journey.
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Activator as a Strength loves to jump in and make a start, brings huge energy to the start of any project, and can really help get things “off the ground” Make sure what you are jumping into is ethical and practice your patience.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – We are departing into captivity through this encounter, I have been earnestly seeking and searching and I have discovered and caught you.
So now I have come – we are departing into captivity
out to meet you – through this encounter
to seek you eagerly – I have been earnestly seeking and searching
and I have found you – and I have discovered and caught you.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to be aware of sin crouching at my door, desiring to have me – and to stay close to you each day. (Gen 4:7)
To chat to me as a professional coach/mentor – allan@theallankey.com
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