APR 29

Proverbs 27:12
Memorise Proverbs 27:12
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself…”

A Christian who knows his sinful nature, has neither pride nor confidence in his own ability to withstand temptation, and purposes in his heart never to sin. Such a man is considered prudent. A prudent Christian is a thoughtful and careful one. Whilst he must always depend on Christ for strength to withstand temptations, he also understands his responsibility to fight and overcome it. He is a planner – he prepares himself to resist temptation. He looks forward and with wisdom can foresee the evil that lies ahead, and when he sees it, he hides – he actively takes steps to avoid it so that it does not find and harm him. He does not want to be found by temptation – acknowledging that temptations often seek us out. In contrast, a simple man (a fool) heads straight into temptation, succumbs and is punished.

Remember playing hide-and-seek as a child? We hide because we do not want to be found by the seeker who wants to expose us. We try to find the best place to hide. In the same way, this should be our attitude to temptation: we fear it finding us so we hide and hide well. If we know that we are outnumbered and surrounded by the enemy during wartime, the best thing we can do as a civilian is to seek out the best place to hide and stay there until it is safe, for our lives are at stake.

Sadly, for many Christians, instead of doing all they can to hide from sin, the opposite is true! We like to go as close to sin as possible, or even immerse ourselves in situations, activities and bad company believing we can stand and not be corrupted. We expose ourselves to sin and all the corrupting influences of the world and proudly insist that we will not succumb to the temptations. We watch all sorts of TV shows and movies, play games and spend hours surfing online, and then we wonder why we keep sinning and struggle so much with sin. We do not seem to value our spiritual lives! We have more in common with the simple than the prudent. Remember what happened to the simple fool? He was punished for his sin. Giving in to temptation has consequences. Do you fear punishment? Why then choose to expose ourselves to temptation?

Thought: What are external (outside) sources of temptation in your life?
Prayer: Give me the wisdom to foresee evil in my path and avoid it.