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Spotting selfishness (Prov 1:10-12)
Prayer
Heavenly Father, There is nothing I can gain that is more precious than wisdom, and I thank you that you have provided me with the means of getting wisdom through your Holy Word. As I turn again to you today, please meet with me and I ask that you would give me wisdom. I lack the needed wisdom to honour and obey you as I ought, and I stand in great need – please hear my request and bless me Lord. For your name’s sake I pray, Amen.
Reading
Prov 1:10-12 - “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”
Meditation.
Proverbs 1:11-19 is a case study of the warning laid out in verse ten. Consider 1 Corinthians 15:33. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”.” The people that we invite into our lives have a profound and lasting impact on who we ourselves become. Godless people will not help us to love Christ, and they will tend to draw us toward sinful ways of thinking and living. Following the introductory material of Proverbs 1, the first call of wisdom proper we see here is to avoid the enticement of sinners. Sin is not just some abstract reality, it’s personal, and it comes to us through people. Because of this, taking godless people to be our close companions is spiritually dangerous business. People who do not trust, revere, and submit to God cannot help us to trust, revere, and submit to God either. In verses 11-19 we have some concrete training in how to beware of the enticement of sinners.
The first lesson laid out in the case study is that we must identify worldly enticements. That’s what Solomon is helping his son to do here. Let’s look at verses 10-12 again: “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit”. Now maybe you read that and think to yourself that no one has ever tried to entice you with something like that. Fair enough, it is a somewhat extreme example, but the extreme example is helpful because it illustrates so clearly the basic nature of worldly enticements from godless people. In studying the example, I believe that we find three major characteristics of worldly enticements – we’ll address the first here, and the second two in subsequent studies.
The first characteristic of sinful enticements that we see here is that they are self-centred. “If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit”. There is no concern for others in these words, there is only a using of others for the purpose of selfish gain.
Sin is self-centred. Love is selfless, and abides in sacrificial service of itself to do good to others. Sin is selfish, willing to sacrifice the energies and life of others to gain more for self. Love lays itself down for the good of others. Sin lays others down for the good of self. We see this principle starkly demonstrated in our verses.
Be ye doers of the word…
Considering these principles, and the example laid out in these verses, this should help us to identify the real-life “offers” we might receive, as warned against in verse ten. If someone makes you an offer, and it comes at the expense of others, it’s a dead giveaway that this is a self-centred and sinful proposition. It might be cheating on the boss through laziness or neglect; or cheating on your spouse with another person. It might involve passively ignoring the needs of others when it is in your power to meet those needs. It might involve taking advantage of others, or viewing them as resources to be used. These are all basic aspects of godless ways of living.
Sin has a fundamentally self-centred view of the world, it makes an idol of itself, it prioritises self. Now, in the first place, we should certainly avoid those who try to tempt us to use other people in self-centred ways. But as disciples we should alsoexamine ourselves in this, because as sin remains in our hearts so we are still prone to use other people in self-centred ways. Even though our identity is wrapped up in Christ, this sinful and self-centred mindset will still always be there trying to take control. It will be waging war agains the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in us. We must examine our own hearts for selfishness.
We must ask ourselves the question of concern here: “Am I self-centred?” Of course, the follow-up question is then: “How can I tell if I’m self-centred?” To explore that possibility, we might ask ourselves and reflect questions like: Are most of my thoughts about me? Am I generally thinking about my desires and wants? Does my happiness depend on things going my way? Does it bother me when others are hurt, or am I generally focused on how others are hurting me? Do my thoughts about others revolve around how I am affected? Or what I might gain out of them? Honest answers to these questions will show us how selfish we really are.
We must avoid the temptation to be selfish, and we must seek to kill selfish inclinations in our own heart. Pastor Paul Washer put it this way:“If you do not deal with your self-centredness now, early, in time you won’t recognise yourself.” This is a serious warning, it’s sobering.
But how we do this? How do we kill selfishness? You prayerfully examine your own heart, asking God to show you yourselfishness. Whenever you find evidence of selfishness in your heart, you then bring it to the cross, confess it, and God will forgive you. We must then ask the Lord to renew our mind and heart, that we may put off selfishness. Then we must look to Christ, and set the eyes of our hearts upon him who is love incarnate. As we do this, the Lord will continually remake us from self-serving people into others-serving people. May the Lord so work in our hearts as to make us truly selfless. SDG.
Prayer of Confession & Consecration.
Lord God Almighty, I confess that my heart harbors selfish resistance to your will, and I need your help to become a truly loving person. Please forgive me for focusing so much on myself and responding sinfully when things don’t go my way. Forgive me for my lack of concern for others’ struggles and for using others' efforts without gratitude. Cover me in your grace and remake me, helping me to serve and value others above myself. Work this transformation within me and within your people, for your glory alone, in Jesus’ name, Amen
Get full access to Old things New. at rcbhpastor.substack.com/subscribe
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By Reformed devotions from all of scripture.Prayer
Heavenly Father, There is nothing I can gain that is more precious than wisdom, and I thank you that you have provided me with the means of getting wisdom through your Holy Word. As I turn again to you today, please meet with me and I ask that you would give me wisdom. I lack the needed wisdom to honour and obey you as I ought, and I stand in great need – please hear my request and bless me Lord. For your name’s sake I pray, Amen.
Reading
Prov 1:10-12 - “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”
Meditation.
Proverbs 1:11-19 is a case study of the warning laid out in verse ten. Consider 1 Corinthians 15:33. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”.” The people that we invite into our lives have a profound and lasting impact on who we ourselves become. Godless people will not help us to love Christ, and they will tend to draw us toward sinful ways of thinking and living. Following the introductory material of Proverbs 1, the first call of wisdom proper we see here is to avoid the enticement of sinners. Sin is not just some abstract reality, it’s personal, and it comes to us through people. Because of this, taking godless people to be our close companions is spiritually dangerous business. People who do not trust, revere, and submit to God cannot help us to trust, revere, and submit to God either. In verses 11-19 we have some concrete training in how to beware of the enticement of sinners.
The first lesson laid out in the case study is that we must identify worldly enticements. That’s what Solomon is helping his son to do here. Let’s look at verses 10-12 again: “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit”. Now maybe you read that and think to yourself that no one has ever tried to entice you with something like that. Fair enough, it is a somewhat extreme example, but the extreme example is helpful because it illustrates so clearly the basic nature of worldly enticements from godless people. In studying the example, I believe that we find three major characteristics of worldly enticements – we’ll address the first here, and the second two in subsequent studies.
The first characteristic of sinful enticements that we see here is that they are self-centred. “If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit”. There is no concern for others in these words, there is only a using of others for the purpose of selfish gain.
Sin is self-centred. Love is selfless, and abides in sacrificial service of itself to do good to others. Sin is selfish, willing to sacrifice the energies and life of others to gain more for self. Love lays itself down for the good of others. Sin lays others down for the good of self. We see this principle starkly demonstrated in our verses.
Be ye doers of the word…
Considering these principles, and the example laid out in these verses, this should help us to identify the real-life “offers” we might receive, as warned against in verse ten. If someone makes you an offer, and it comes at the expense of others, it’s a dead giveaway that this is a self-centred and sinful proposition. It might be cheating on the boss through laziness or neglect; or cheating on your spouse with another person. It might involve passively ignoring the needs of others when it is in your power to meet those needs. It might involve taking advantage of others, or viewing them as resources to be used. These are all basic aspects of godless ways of living.
Sin has a fundamentally self-centred view of the world, it makes an idol of itself, it prioritises self. Now, in the first place, we should certainly avoid those who try to tempt us to use other people in self-centred ways. But as disciples we should alsoexamine ourselves in this, because as sin remains in our hearts so we are still prone to use other people in self-centred ways. Even though our identity is wrapped up in Christ, this sinful and self-centred mindset will still always be there trying to take control. It will be waging war agains the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in us. We must examine our own hearts for selfishness.
We must ask ourselves the question of concern here: “Am I self-centred?” Of course, the follow-up question is then: “How can I tell if I’m self-centred?” To explore that possibility, we might ask ourselves and reflect questions like: Are most of my thoughts about me? Am I generally thinking about my desires and wants? Does my happiness depend on things going my way? Does it bother me when others are hurt, or am I generally focused on how others are hurting me? Do my thoughts about others revolve around how I am affected? Or what I might gain out of them? Honest answers to these questions will show us how selfish we really are.
We must avoid the temptation to be selfish, and we must seek to kill selfish inclinations in our own heart. Pastor Paul Washer put it this way:“If you do not deal with your self-centredness now, early, in time you won’t recognise yourself.” This is a serious warning, it’s sobering.
But how we do this? How do we kill selfishness? You prayerfully examine your own heart, asking God to show you yourselfishness. Whenever you find evidence of selfishness in your heart, you then bring it to the cross, confess it, and God will forgive you. We must then ask the Lord to renew our mind and heart, that we may put off selfishness. Then we must look to Christ, and set the eyes of our hearts upon him who is love incarnate. As we do this, the Lord will continually remake us from self-serving people into others-serving people. May the Lord so work in our hearts as to make us truly selfless. SDG.
Prayer of Confession & Consecration.
Lord God Almighty, I confess that my heart harbors selfish resistance to your will, and I need your help to become a truly loving person. Please forgive me for focusing so much on myself and responding sinfully when things don’t go my way. Forgive me for my lack of concern for others’ struggles and for using others' efforts without gratitude. Cover me in your grace and remake me, helping me to serve and value others above myself. Work this transformation within me and within your people, for your glory alone, in Jesus’ name, Amen
Get full access to Old things New. at rcbhpastor.substack.com/subscribe