Today: Proverbs 6
God loves you and because he loves you, there are things in this world he hates. Proverbs 6 deals specifically with several false gods that can destroy the lives God desires for us to live. Let’s look at a couple of them.
The issue in regards to finances (vv. 1-5) is where your treasure is. Jesus said you cannot serve both God and money, and it’s obvious this person is serving money. (See Matthew 6:19-24.) Of course many people get sucked into this one. God knows that money and what it can buy will not really satisfy our souls. God wants something much better for us: a trusting relationship with him.
Lying is a serious offense to God. It’s mentioned in verse 12 as a description of worthless and wicked people and it’s mentioned twice in the list of things God hates (vv. 16-19). Ananias & Sapphira lost their lives because they lied to the church and to the Holy Spirit. Why is lying such a big deal? Because God loves truth. Jesus is the Truth. He came to testify to the truth. The truth will set us free. Lying puts us in bondage.
Solomon also addressed laziness and lust/adultery in this chapter and in many of the proverbs of this book. Neither lead us to God’s best for us. They speak for themselves.
By the way, we don’t have to guess at what God hates. Here’s a list in verses 16-19. It is a partial list, by the way; He also hates anything dealing with idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:31; 16:22) and divorce (Malachi 2:16), I should hate the same things on this list, especially in myself!
Why does God hate these things? Because all these things move us away from the way he intends for us to live this life he created for us. He wants us to live life to the full and he hates the things that we choose (because of the free will he gave us) that take us down paths that are not good for us! What a loving Father he is!
God used Solomon to show us the right and best ways to live our lives. Which of the things in Proverbs 6 do you need to turn over to God today?
