Traps To Avoid - Proverbs 1:10-19

My child, if sinners entice you,
turn your back on them! 
They may say, “Come and join us.
 … Think of the great things we’ll get!
… Come, throw in your lot with us”;
… My child, don’t go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths. 
They rush to commit evil deeds. 
They hurry to commit murder. 
If a bird sees a trap being set, 
it knows to stay away. 
But these people set an ambush for themselves; 
they are trying to get themselves killed. 
Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; 
it robs them of life.

So, to summarize: Stay away from people who entice you into sin; stay away from places they go, and specifically, if someone asks you to join him or her in sin, reject their offer and walk away.

I think the most important line in the section is,  “Stay far from their paths.”  In other words, “don’t even get close to the places where these types of people hang around!” The wisdom here is that if you stay away from the places that sinful people go, you won’t find yourself belonging to that crowd, making friendships with them, and being drawn into their schemes. 

How often I’ve watched as people I know ignore this wisdom. To be fair, the lure is enticing, exciting, pleasurable, and fun. I’ve been caught in this trap myself from time to time. The consequences for neglecting this wisdom can be severe. This proverb says that you will be robbed of your life; just like an animal that sets a trap for itself and then gets caught and killed in it. Pretty humorous word picture, I thought. 


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