Tiny Devotional for Monday, 04-01-2024

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, leftovers from Sunday dinner are wonderful!

If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait for blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;
Proverbs 1:11-12, NASB


This is a part of the instructions a father and mother provide. They are describing the approach that sinners make to seduce us to a life of crime.

Now, at first reading, this seems rather extreme, because it is CLEARLY advice against civilized morality. Surely, even the bad guys would couch their temptation in better language, wouldn't they? Instead of being obvious that they advocate amoral behavior, wouldn't they sweeten the deal, a bit, by using subtlety?

I think not.

Part of the attraction of the way of life they are advocating is defining it as banditry. “We are the baddest of the bad; Jesse James had NOTHING on us!” It's that approach, and to the naive youth who has been protected by the standards of his home life, it can have great appeal. “We're so bad, the cops will run when they see us! We are the Dread Pirate Roberts!”  

The more extreme the language is, the more appeal it has to a certain kind of naive youth. It will also serve to drive away those who genuinely have no stomach for doing wrong, for whatever reason, and then those will serve as another group to be superior to. “Don't be a sissy like Jerome!”

And if you can't find examples of that in criminal life, look at advertising campaigns,

Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 1, 2024 at 10:09 AM

    Bad boys bad boys what you going to do when they come for you? It will not be Will Smith or Martin Lawrence who comes for you. Sorry dear. I just finished a team lunch and the introvert needed to vent. Good post though 🦄💜

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jesus SavesApril 2, 2024 at 1:43 AM

    Good word my Brother Pat. The picture at the top, the tiger 🐯 is ready to ambush, ready to attack anytime.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 06-21-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the Fairmount Pattersons are Papa-sitting this morning! It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Proverbs 21:9, NASB Today is the 21st of the month; so, Proverbs 21. I have written about verses 1-8;  it’s verse 9’s turn. Thus, my selection of this verse has NOTHING to do with my wife, mother, sisters, or daughters! All of them are intelligent, confident, and assertive; they are NOT contentious. ‘Contentious’ does NOT mean ‘has a different opinion’!  A man who has lived with a contentious woman gives the definition by example: I was 20 years old, and stupid (those might be the same thing).  I thought our marriage would work because she was beautiful, and I was, too. It didn’t take long before I realized I was wrong about that. Most of the time, it didn’t matter what I did; I couldn’t please her. We were married for 3 years,
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 08-20-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Piper doesn’t like her food. Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord. Proverbs 20:10, NASB If this verse weren’t so important, I’d skip it, because I discovered it in a painful time. Others were involved, and their stories are not mine to tell. So, you get a parable: Stockman Bubba ran a cattle station, in partnership with his horse, Nancy. They worked hard together, and although they were not rich, they had achieved a degree of success. One day, a platypus stung Bubba, incapacitating him. Bubba tried to continue running the station, but after two years had passed, he realized it was time to retire. Nancy couldn’t adjust to this, and she left for life on her own. Three years later, Bubba realized Nancy was never coming back, and considered getting another horse. However, he was concerned that the other station owners would think bad
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 07-23-2023

Image
 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, reach for the sky. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18, NASB Today’s verse is 18, but I included 17, because I THINK they are a couplet. I wrote about verse 17 last month, and will try not to repeat myself. Our senses describe the present, our memory describes the past; the future is described by our hopes and our fears. In this little verse, we are given one of the strongest foundations for peace: yes, you DO have a future, and it’s a good one. Under most circumstances, we take the future for granted. If you have ever been forced to doubt that a future exists, you know how chilling that is. ‘No future’ is MUCH worse than ‘bad future.’ This verse draws us back away from the abyss of nothingness, and back into reality: yes, you DO have a future.  (If that
Read more