PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead” (Proverbs 21:16).

“The man that wandereth out of the way,” that is the backslider. In the Old Testament, if you wandered out of the way you went to hell. That is exactly what this verse before us today is saying, they “shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” Paul tells us who this “congregation” was in Ephesians: “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:2-3).

In the Old Testament, if a man got out of the way, he lost it for his standing with the covenants depended upon his obedience to the Law and to the sacrifices. Saul forsook the way and lost it, Samson went out of the way and lost it and got it back in the end, David got out of the way and almost lost it, but for repentance. The illustrations are over and over again. Thank God there is no way for the New Testament saint to get out of the way because we are “in the way.” We are “sealed by the Spirit.” We can lose blessings and rewards, but we can’t lose the gift of eternal life. It doesn’t say anything about living in eternal shame though.

In the sense that a man quits reading his Bible, quits going to church, he can get out of the way, but he can’t get out of “the way,” because Jesus Christ said that He was “the way,” and once we are “in Christ” there is no exit door.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let's read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let's keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

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