Knowing how to protect yourself.
Knowing who to avoid.
Knowing when to say no... even when the action requested is not wrong.
What does this mean?
Jumping off a cliff into shallow water and rocks is not wise... many people have died or become paralysed for life after doing so.
Lesson number one:
Lesson number two:
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
MATTHEW 7:24-27
Before taking action we need to properly assess the situation, seek God's direction and wise counsel from others.
Foolish decisions are very costly.
Lesson number three:
It is easy to find Gods will for our lives. He has made it clear in the Bible. People seek to ignore God's will, because sin is attractive. But it has severe consequences.
1 1 Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
1 KINGS 11:1-13
If God says do not do something, it is for our good. Even if we do not understand why. Even if it does not appear wrong to us, we do not appreciate everything as God does.
Solomon, the King who had requested wisdom from God, lost his discernment over... women. Satan will use whatever he can to pull you away from God's plan for your life.
Lesson number four:
Avoid situations that could develop into sin. Remain in control.
Sin comes in attractive packages, and we can slip easily into sin, believing we are in control. Sin is always pleasurable at first... just one alcoholic drink is a delight... but it can rapidly develop into a torture, like addiction.
People often end up in compromising situations, an innocent work dinner progresses into adultery. Their intentions were to keep matters plutonic but the other party was determined and the temptation became too great. Best to avoid the situation in the first place.
Samson. An arrogant fool, whose character turned him away from God.
4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels[g] of silver.”6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.
JUDGES 16:4-6,15-17,21
From God.
It is not in our power.
We need to ask him to grant us wisdom, as Solomon did.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
JAMES 1:5
LET US PRAY
DEAR LORD AND FATHER SAVE US FROM OUR OWN FOOLISHNESS. GRANT US WISDOM WE PRAY. GIVE US YOUR GUIDANCE IN EVERYTHING WE DO, FOR YOUR NAME'S SAKE. IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME WE PRAY. AMEN