Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Proverbs 1:8-19 (ESV)
The Enticement of Sinners
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; 12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”— 15 my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, 16 for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. 17 For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, 18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. 19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.
What kind of person walks into their own trap?
Lord, these words that were written thousands of years ago are as if they were written for today. Your wisdom never changes. As violence spreads across our nation and people burn and loot businesses, weak people are being enticed to join in. Destruction and violence are not acceptable just because others are doing it. Actions can’t be justified on the basis that it is the trendy way in which the world is working right now. In the end, it is still evil and the actions of evil will take away their very life. The more they take from others the less they are. Lord, I pray that people recognize the evil for what it is. Protect all who are being victimized by the destruction and hatred. Put a hedge of protection around the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to serve and protect others. Help people come together to rebuild and mend what has been broken. Bring unity back into our communities. Allow people to stop the madness. Send Your Spirit into the church to lead for Your good. Let Your Love shine through the darkness and reach out to all. Lord, we need You today. Amen