The Painter

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 7

Gold Nugget

Verse 21:  With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. 

Commentary

The devil sure paints a pretty picture as to the pleasures of sin. It's his desire for you to see only the upside of walking in disobedience. He is quite skilled with his paint brush of deception. With smooth strokes on the canvass of her mind, he convinced Eve that her act of rebellion in the garden would actually put her on the same level as God. He didn't reveal the curse that would be enacted as a result of her actions. When David pursued Bathsheba, the tempter didn't give him any insight as to the anguish he would suffer from abandoning the Lord's principles and laws. When Judas betrayed the Lord for what he thought would be beneficial to him, the enemy presented his masterpiece of art to Judas' fleshly desires. The benefit of a mature Christian who walks in wisdom is the ability to see the immediate destruction that comes from disobedience. To them, they can see the perils of rebelling as sure as someone that falls from a cliff. To the foolish the enemy can describe the rush of excitement from a 100 foot free fall as something to be enjoyed. As farfetched as it seems, the spiritual destruction that comes from willful disobedience can be as evident to the wise as the person that falls to their death on the rocks below. Don't be deceived by the skilled painter that portrays your sinful acts as harmless. Your temporary pleasure will soon be replaced with continual suffering. 

Prayer

Lord, I don't want to trade the peace and security that comes from being disobedient for any pleasures of this world. Help me to be able to see the enemy as he tries to paint a deceptive portrait of what could be gained from leaving the path you've set before me. I will follow you without looking to the left or to the right.  Amen

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