Series: Wisdom That Works
Message: Sexy Wisdom
Preacher: Mark Johnson
Reflection: Mark Witas
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Jessyka Dooley
Live Beyond: J. Murdock
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Proverbs 5:1-23 in the New Living Translation (NLT). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: “At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, ‘How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!’” (Proverbs 5:11-12).
In general, an undisciplined life is an unhappy life. I would go as far as to say, an undisciplined life is also a dissatisfied life. Conversely, a disciplined life is usually a happy and satisfied life.
I had a stepfather who was one of the most undisciplined people I’ve ever met. His early childhood was unsupervised and he was given no boundaries. All his life he was fed instant gratification. Whatever he wanted he grew up taking, whether he had permission to do so or not. When he decided he didn’t like school, his parents let him quit.
This lack of discipline led to an encounter that landed my stepdad in prison for the next 18 years. His sentence was actually 20 years to life; he just got out early. And married my mom.
All the lack of discipline in his life didn’t change while he was incarcerated. Because of it, he wasn’t able to hold a steady job, he wasn’t able to have any meaningful friendships, and he wasn’t able to kick his smoking, drinking, and drug habits.
Once, he got throat cancer. Because they didn’t have any money, my parents ended up at the University of Washington where people learning to be doctors took care of his cancer, including providing radiation treatments.
When the treatments were finished, he was warned to quit smoking, or worse would happen to him. He didn’t quit. In fact, he smoked even more.
My stepdad was the unhappiest man I’ve ever known. He ended up taking too many drugs (that he had stolen from senior citizens) and dying in a hotel room next to a prostitute who had to call the coroner to pick up his body.
If you want to die a happy, life-lived-full, satisfied life, allow discipline to do its good work on you. If you want to do a sad, looking-over-your-shoulder kind of death, flee from self discipline and live a life for instant gratification.
Remember, God disciplines those He loves. Those who love God will let that discipline shape and form them into happy, well-adjusted people.
Recalibrate: What part of your life would you describe as the most disciplined? The least disciplined?
Respond: Pray these words: “Father of order, give me the ability to put my nose down and do what I need to do, and to not be distracted by the things that only serve to take me off course.”
Research: Read 10 Powerful Ways to Master Self-Discipline.
Remember: “For human ways are under the eyes of the Lord and He examines all their paths” (Proverbs 5:21, NRSV).
Mark Witas is the lead pastor at Sunnyside Adventist Church in Portland, Oregon.
Using your furniture and a large blanket, make a fort big enough for you and your child to sit in. Grab some pillows and your favorite books; you may need a torch as well. There is nothing worse than a fort that keeps crashing in on you. You end up getting tangled up in all the blankets. Strong secure framework is what a good fort needs and so does a good life. Stay strong and build something amazing for you and your family to play in forever.
Have you ever done something wrong but didn’t know it was wrong? Proverbs tells us about a woman like this. Chapter 5 Verse 6 says, “She gives no thought to life. She does not know that her ways are wrong.” Just because she doesn’t know her ways are wrong, doesn’t mean the things she does won’t hurt people. Sometimes people have hurt feelings because of something we’ve done even when we think we didn’t do anything mean. Has this ever happened to you? This week, try your best to stop, wait, and listen to how people are feeling. If someone is ever hurt by something you say or do, make sure to make it right with them!
Quick disclaimer: Proverbs 5 gets a little wild! But before we get too deep into the wisdom Solomon is sharing this week, we should start with a point of clarification. Up until this point, there has been a central female character—Wisdom. Now, in Chapter 5, we are going to be introduced to a new lady who is described much differently. The key phrase that will help you discern the good girl from the bad one is “forbidden.”
Solomon is careful to make sure you know that he isn’t talking about all women, or a certain woman, but instead is trying to help you think about a certain type of woman. (For the girls reading this Daily Walk section this morning, just know that the Bible shows that Solomon is talking to a son. But really, he’s giving this information out to everyone. So you’re not off the hook here. For you, substitute the word “woman” for “man” in this section and apply it accordingly! Because unfortunately for everyone, there are forbidden people on both sides of the sexes.)
Solomon wants you to befriend Wisdom and avoid strange women. The goal is to make sure nothing you do every gets between you and your Wisdom. And unfortunately, losing your faculties can give the opportunity for Wisdom to leave you. It’s never a good decision to actively do something unwise, but sometimes it’s the company you keep that makes good decisions more difficult. So Solomon tells you to make sure you’ve got the right people around you at all times. Do a check of your close friends and see if you can figure out who is helping you make better decisions and who is giving you strange advice. It may be time to pray about making some changes in your circle. The fate of your friendship with Wisdom may be counting on it.
When I was a kid, I envied friends who were never disciplined. They never got grounded, spanked, or lectured. They just got to do what they wanted, and their parents were always seen as the “cool” parents. You know, the ones who let their kids drink in the basement, and have parties at the house because they “would rather see them do it at home than anywhere else.” Many of those friends have continued down a sorrowful path of destruction in their lives. I realize now that the discipline my mom gave me was for my good, not my destruction. The Christian life is one of discipline. It takes discipline to read your Bible, pray, seek God, and look to Him and not yourself. Yet it is a life of joy and peace. Don’t despise the discipline in your life; lean into it. Also, never confuse abuse for discipline. God never harms us or abuses us, and neither should any human. Discipline is always for our good, never to hurt us.
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
Jessyka Dooley is assistant youth director for the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Denver, Colorado.
J. Murdock is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, where he focuses on youth and young adult ministry.
Kyle Smith is the associate pastor of youth and family ministries at New Haven Adventist Church in Overland Park, Kansas.