My A.M. Devo

This morning I read Proverbs 7. Today is the 7th, and there are 31 chapters of proverbs, and 31 days in the month. Read one a day, and it could go on for yearrss! This is like my 7th year to do this...

and each time is different and I see something new, or have a new revelation. Learning never ends!

Proverbs 7
My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers;
write them on the table of your heart.
Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend,
to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

For at the window of my house I have looked our through my lattice,
and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.

And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home,
now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait.
She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him,
"I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows;
so now I have come out to meet you, to see you eagerly, and I have found you.
I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen;
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.
For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;
he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home."

With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.

And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stay into her paths,
for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a might throng.
Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death."


This reminds me of a poem that I heard at DBU by Chris Vitatoe:
"The Woman Did"

A truth I must express, my friend,
So heed my words yet once again
And I shall tell thee why and when
Our troubles all began!

Pray tell, who ate the apple when
The world was still void f sin
And caused a curse upon all men?
Behold, the Woman did!

A bloody war took place at Troy,
As love-stuck prince fought for his joy.
What creature had seduced the boy?
The Woman did!

When Job laid sick upon the sod,
With sores and boils across his bod,
Who tempted him to blaspheme God?
The Woman did!

King Arthur's end began, I hear
When he met one name Guinevere!
Who caused his end? Again, I fear
The Woman did!

Mike Tyson's Wealth is nearly Spend,
With not the cash to pay his rent!
What devil robbed his every cent?
The Woman did!

John the Baptist now is dead.
He could have lived for years instead!
Who told the king to take his head?
The Woman did!

"Anakin!" Kenobi cried.
"Has evil now become your guide?"
What pushed him to the darker side?
The Woman did!

King David plotted, schemed, and lied,
But who caused Uriah's homicide,
By bathing naked while outside?
The Woman did!

The Count of Monte Cristo's sin
Was vengeance on his former friend!
Who caused their conflict to begin?
The Woman did!

When Philistines came to his lair,
The strongman Sampson had no hair!
Who told the guards to shave him bare?
The Woman did!

When ash and brimstone pummeled down,
To level Sodom to the ground,
who disobeyed and turned around?
Behold, the Woman did!


Now, of course a man wrote this. But I asked the same question myself, and realized, the woman strayed in the beginning, too, just kind of wandering around, "Ooh! look at this yummy fruit I found! Yum, here, have some!"
Where are her boundaries? Her discipline? Her wisdom?
Thanks to Proverbs 31, we can see a hard working woman, about her business, and not making any foolishness.

We are all malfunctioning, in one way or another, and some's are more visible or obvious than others. Each has a positive and negative, a good side, and bad. Men, and women alike have helped and harmed the world.
It takes discipline to make sure we are on the Right courses. Amen.