Check out the full episode and Wisdom Journal here:
http://wisdom-trek.com/day-166/

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 166 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
Proverbs 5:1-6 Making Wise Choices #1
Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast.
This is Day 166 of our Trek, and yesterday we finished our exploration of
Proverbs 4. We will remain at camp for a few more days as we explore Proverbs
chapter 5. If you miss any days of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com
to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North
Carolina. It is good to be back to somewhat of a routine this week. Being a
disciplined person, I tend to like a structured schedule that allows me to get
up at the same time each day for exercise and meditation. I find that I am able
to accomplish much more when my schedule is set. I have been recording the
Wisdom-Trek podcast early in the morning over the past few weeks, which seems to
be working out well in my schedule as well. If I sound a bit raspy this week, it
is due to allergies or a cold that seemed to flare up after returning from the
cruise. It appears to be clearing up, so hopefully I will be over it soon.

In my hiking experiences, I have discovered that as the night wears on and we’re
sitting around the campfire the stories shared become more personal in
nature. So it is with the Bible, and especially in Proverbs. God does not sugar
coat the subject discussed. Woven within scriptures we see the good, the bad,
and the ugly of people’s lives. Even with all of the advances in information,
technology, and medicine, people and societies have not changed all that much
over the millenniums of human existence.



The next few chapters of Proverbs deal with some of the weaknesses we have as
humans, and since God chose to leave them in His love letter to us, we will
cover them as well as we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are contained in the
verses.

Just as the smoke from the campfire can drift into our eyes, temporarily
blinding us and making our lives uncomfortable, there are times when we are
blinded by desires and temptations in our lives which end up making our lives
very uncomfortable. The question for today is “Do you stay in the same place
allowing the smoke to continue to blind you, or will you take action and make
the needed changes to avoid smoke getting in your eyes?” By God’s grace,
regardless of past situations, we do not need to remain in the smoke.



The overall subject in Proverb chapter 5 is avoiding immoral women although the
same principle applies in avoiding immoral men also.

As with part of the previous chapter, we see that chapter 5 is a poem. The poem
has two subjects:

A married woman tempts a man who is not her husband.
Evil practices are like this woman because sometimes these things attract us.
But evil practices offend God. We must obey God, and refuse to continue those
evil practices or habits.

Solomon discusses both subjects at the same time. This is similar to Proverbs
2:16-19. The actions of the woman show us how evil ideas can attract us.

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen carefully to my wise counsel.
2 Then you will show discernment,
and your lips will express what you’ve learned.

Solomon begins his lesson in the usual way. He reminds us why we need wisdom and
knowledge. With wisdom and knowledge, we can avoid danger like what is described
in the following verses.

3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
and her mouth is smoother than oil.

A married woman attracts a young man. She seems so beautiful. When he kisses
her, her lips seem to taste like honey. When he listens to her, her words are so
attractive. He does not think about the woman’s husband. He does not think about
God’s precepts. He does not even think about the results of his actions. He only
thinks about her.