The Straight Story

“Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes”

I never cease to be amazed at the deep wisdom of the book of Proverbs. Men have devoted their whole life to extracting every ounce of gold from those thirty-one chapters, and did not live long enough to do it. I cannot return to those verses, year after year, without “seeing” some verse I did not “see” before. The book does not change, but praise God, I do.

Proverbs 6:25, where our verse comes from, seem as fresh today as it did when it was written…over two millennia ago. We fragile humans are as fixated today on physical beauty as our ancestors were before us. We believe, to our own destruction, that beauty is always a good thing. We desire it above truth and virtue. We sell our souls to possess it, or at least maintain the illusion of it. We are slaves to the dream, to the lie, sold us by those who would own us. Like sheep to the slaughter, we go down to the grave. Many would do anything to be beautiful.

Can you see true beauty with the eyes? Yes if you look at the character, the lifestyle of the person, instead of their external beauty. The foolish man, it says in Proverbs 7:7-9, goes out at twilight, and roams around in the darkness. The scripture says this kind of man is “lacking sense.” No person can see clearly at night. Without a strong light to shine ahead of you, you will stumble. That is why the Word is the light unto my path!

Many a car is spotless on the outside, but a lemon under the hood. Many a girl is beautiful to behold, but a nightmare to deal with. And many a young man may be handsome, but treats you like a maid after the honeymoon. Make a decision today to ignore what your eyes tell you. Remember! Daydreams can become nightmares, when your eyes are off the LORD.

Shalom, ( Peace to the one whose desire is the LORD!)
Pastor Richard