Tiny Devotional for Monday, 09-04-2023

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, we LOVE finding new friends!

 Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
Proverbs 4:14-15, NASB

Do you notice that in these two verses, we get SIX DIFFERENT forms of the command? 

Man, my mama would NEVER tell me six times not to do something! The max I’d ever get was two instructions; the third instruction was accompanied with some sort of encouragement. 
At age 9, it went like this:

1. “Close the freezer door; you can’t have a popsicle because it’s almost dinner time.”
2. “You’ll spoil your appetite.”
3. WHACK! “Get out of the house, don’t leave the yard, and don’t come inside until I call you!”

NOTE: Mama never, not once, went too far with the ‘whack.’ I’m sure it was tempting from time to time, but I actually DID manage to learn SOME things, and I would vacate the premises before I NEEDED a more intense encouragement. 

And that’s the strategy here, as well. It’s actually NOT six variations of ‘DON’T’ we see here; it’s five ‘DON’Ts’ and one ‘DO.’

What’s the ‘DO?’

“Pass on.”

It’s hard to avoid temptation if you keep hanging around it. We aren’t called to hold still and be nice, either!  We are to actively seek bringing the Kingdom of God into our own lives, and into the world. 
So: don’t let your time, thoughts, and money loiter where the bad stuff is. 

Pass on: do justice; love mercy, walk humbly with your God.

Peace be on your household.