One of the literary devices used in Proverbs is that of personification, ( ‘the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure’ , or ‘ the representation of a thing or abstraction in the form of a person’). The Message version brings out this vividly by giving names to ordinary nouns (Lady Wisdom, Madame Insight and so on). Writers use personification to bring something to life so that we see beyond the mere words to the human drama involved.

The writer does this again in Proverbs 7, where again we are warned against adultery. You’d think we’d have got the message by now, wouldn’t you? But when warnings are given repeatedly in Scripture, we do well to ponder carefully why. The command ‘Do not fear!’ is reputedly found 366 times in the Bible (I confess I’ve never counted myself, but can well imagine God needing to repeat this one enough times for one each day of the year, including leap years, since I know my own propensity to fear!) So it’s clearly important that we grasp the significance of this ongoing warning against adultery and in order to do this, the writer engages our mind and emotions through this dramatic device.

We are onlookers to a young man’s folly, seeing him seduced by a woman who is clearly the predator in this scene. We hear her ‘honeyed words’ and can picture the scene with all its colour, allure, fragrances and sense of heady intoxication. You only have to read this chapter to feel you’re in the middle of a powerful cinematic scene. If you’re like me, you can hear the music, smell the fragrances and see that this young man doesn’t stand much of a chance of resistance. There is inevitability written all over this scene.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. We all like to think there is inevitability about sin, because then we can shrug off personal responsibility and blame someone else. Adam blamed Eve back in the Garden of Eden; Eve blamed the serpent. Playing the blame game is second nature to us; we learn it at such a young age that we don’t even think about it most of the time. When we come to know Christ, however, our consciences are awakened and we understand that temptation is not the same thing as sin and that He gives us power to resist temptation. The ammunition the young man needed to resist the wiles of the Seductress is revealed at the start of the chapter: “Treasure my careful instructions. Do what I say and you’ll live well.” (Prov 7:1)

The world has a proverb ‘do as I say, not as I do’. That’s not the way of the Bible. Jesus is our great example on how to resist temptation (Matt 4:1-11) and He provides us with the means to resist temptation, no matter what shape or form it comes in. Those means are spiritual: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:4-5) or, as the Message version translates this latter part, ‘fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.’

Yes, this chapter is talking about a specific sin (adultery). But I think the repeated emphasis on adultery is not simply a warning about the powerful nature of sexual sin (which should never be underestimated.) The cinematic nature of this chapter gives us insight into human nature and helps us to see the dramatic process by which sin is translated from thought into action. The scene ends just as dramatically, with the consequences of sin: “Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.” (Prov 7:27) The smooth-talking seductress has given way to a scene worthy of any horror film. We’d do well to remember that this is always the ending to sin; as we’ll see later on in Proverbs: “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” (Prov 14:12)

Warnings against adultery feature again in Proverbs 6, (vs 20-35), a vivid reminder that we shouldn’t take this advice lightly. This time, the focus is on jealousy and theft, with reminders that all sin begins in the mind long before it’s translated into visible action (Prov 6:25, see also James 1:14-15 and Matt 5:27-30). But the chapter also looks at other aspects of wisdom, including the avoidance of sloth (again, no longer viewed by society as much of a sin at all!) and living in society, including a reminder of things the Lord hates (Prov 6:16-19): “eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.” ,

Proverbs is such a useful book to us because it shows us our own hearts (including the duplicity and sin within) and also shows us the context in which we must live (in families, in communities, in society). John Donne said that ‘no man is an island’, and Proverbs shows us this clearly, looking at how we should relate to others and to God. Many of us like the idea of a desert island in Paradise, without anyone else to trouble us or cause us to stumble! Sadly, this notion is just a fantasy. The reality is we need others and need to learn how to relate to them.

Proverbs is full of practical advice and is always up-to-date, for ultimately human nature does not change and we still need guidelines for wise living today.

Today is Epiphany, a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. Western Christians commemorate principally (but not solely) the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the Baby Jesus, and thus Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles. Eastern Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God.

Hebrews 1:3 tells us “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” As we celebrate the Wise Men taking their gifts to Jesus and take down our Christmas decorations, entering into the New Year with hope and grace, let us remember that now we are the ones “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18) May we learn to reflect His glory and show His likeness to the world, for we are called to be His witnesses and to take the good news of the gospel wherever we go.

If I had to say what I find the most difficult thing about the Christian life, it’s probably surrender.

Surrender goes against our nature. We want to win. We think that surrender is weak and ineffectual. We think it’s a sign of weakness and defeat. We fail to understand the paradoxes of God and struggle with so many verses in the Bible that go against our natural way of thinking and doing things. Verses like “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35) Verses like “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life,” (John 12:24-25) These things make no sense at all to the natural mind. We need to have our eyes opened by the Spirit of God before they can hope to make sense. And even then, ‘making sense’ is probably the wrong way of looking at it. What we really need to do is see by faith that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Is 55:8-9) and so it’s O.K. for it not to make sense. But it’s not O.K. for us to ignore it.

If we try to live the Christian life in our own strength, we will fail. It is impossible for sinful man to please a holy God in his own strength. We have to be prepared to lay down our preconceived ideas and the world’s way of thinking and embrace surrender.

One of the new songs at the Passion conference in Atlanta takes this theme and says:
The battle rages on
As storm and tempest roar
We cannot win this fight
Inside our rebel hearts

We’re laying down our weapons now
We raise our white flag
We surrender all to You, all for You
We raise our white flag
The war is over
Love has come
Your love has won

The white flag is an internationally recognised protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and request for negotiation. It is also used to symbolise surrender, since it is often the weaker military party which requests negotiation. A white flag signifies to all that an approaching negotiator is unarmed, with an intent to surrender or a desire to communicate. Persons carrying or waving a white flag are not to be fired upon, nor are they allowed to open fire. The use of the flag to surrender is included in the Hague Convention.

Many of us still see surrender as synonymous with defeat. We think if we surrender, we will lose. But as Louie Giglio reminded everyone at Passion 2012, surrender is not synonymous with defeat. We have to die before we can live in God. It goes against our normal way of thinking, but we have to lose before we can win. It’s only when we surrender to God that we find His life living through us and in us and we can know victory.

There is a wealth of Christian material out there for us to read, listen to and watch. I don’t presume to know even a tiny part of what we can be involved in! There is so much to teach us, guide us and help us in our Christian walk.

A couple of things have come to my attention recently, however, and I figured that if I was receiving blessing from them, there was no harm in passing these on to other people, on the principle that it’s more blessed to give than receive!

The first is the Hope House Church blog on Psalms. I found it interesting that as we’re working through Proverbs in January, they’ve started looking at Psalms! This is the church in Barnsley affiliated to the school where I work and the blog is managed by Dave’s son, Mark, so it’s interesting to read their thoughts on Psalms (my favourite book of the Bible.) You can read their thoughts here: http://e100.hopehousechurch.org.uk/

The second is the student conference Passion 2012. I’ve talked about my own experience as a volunteer at Passion London in 2010. This event is in Atlanta, Georgia, but this year they have been able to provide live streaming so people can watch it online for a limited period of time. If you want to be blessed by good teaching and learn new worship songs, you can watch it here:http://268generation.com/passion2012/#!/home/ Click on the ‘Live Stream’ feed. Sessions are available for 24 hours. The conference ends today. It’s good to see over 45,000 students from the U.S.A. and the rest of the world learning about God and what I especially like is how they support so many worthwhile causes, helping the poor and needy.

Sexual sins are stumbling-blocks to maturity and wise living. These days, they’re not often perceived as ‘sin’. Society has re-branded these things to appeal without conscience: thus, it’s fine to ‘experiment’ sexually in order to ‘find oneself’ or to ‘find fulfilment’; adultery is condoned as being the way to ‘self-gratification’ and happiness; we are free to do whatever we like as long as it ‘feels good’. Such thinking is not found in the Bible.

Proverbs 5, is headed ‘warning against adultery’ and reminds us that there is more to life than fleeting pleasure. It can be hard to resist powerful sexual attraction, but we do well to take a long-term view of life: ‘You don’t want to end your life full of regrets, nothing but sin and bones, Saying, “Oh, why didn’t I do what they told me? Why did I reject a disciplined life? Why didn’t I listen to my mentors, or take my teachers seriously? My life is ruined! I haven’t one blessed thing to show for my life!” ‘ (Prov 5:12-14) ,

The Bible does not simply warn against sexual sins, however: it reminds us of the beauty and power of God’s gifts, one of which is sex within marriage. This should be cherished and nurtured (Prov 5:19). Sexual intimacy is not the same as mere physical pleasure; it far transcends that. As Prov 5:20 reminds us, “Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a whore? For dalliance with a promiscuous stranger?” ,

Wise living has to include self-discipline and self-control, and it behoves each one of us to be aware of the pitfalls of sexual sins. We are reminded at the end of the chapter:
“Mark well that GOD doesn’t miss a move you make; he’s aware of every step you take. The shadow of your sin will overtake you; you’ll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark. Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.” (Prov 5:21-23)

For those who struggle with this kind of sin more than others, there is forgiveness available when we sin and grace and power to overcome temptation. For those who perhaps feel this advice is irrelevant to them, we should remember Paul’s sobering words in 1 Cor 10:12: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” , There is never any room for complacency in our lives. Wise living requires discipline and dependence on God.