Barefoot and Blindfolded

Introduction

Youth Conference activity - Barefoot and Blindfolded, walking through a maze of rat traps

Listen up!! Pay attention!!!

In His Word, God has given us principles for life that will bring blessings and peace as we follow and obey them.

Design -

Authority -

Ownership -

Freedom -

Suffering -

Responsibility -

Success -

Proverbs is wisdom and advice written from a father to his son. Throughout the book, he covers a wide array of timeless topics that affect us all. Chapter 5 covers one that is so misunderstood in our society today.

Proverbs 5:1 AV 1873

My son, attend unto my wisdom, And bow thine ear to my understanding:

We need counsel. We need to listen to the counsel given and filter it through the Word of God. We do not know it all, and we need to listen to the advice given by those who have journeyed in this life, or in their walk with Jesus, a little or even a lot longer than we have.

1 - The Need for Discretion

Discretion: the ability to make proper, appropriate, and right decisions

Proverbs 5:2 AV 1873

That thou mayest regard discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.

2 - The Presence of Distraction

- Seductive

Proverbs 5:3 AV 1873

For the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, And her mouth is smoother than oil:

- Strange: initially referred to those who were from other nations, came to refer to those who lived in immorality

- Reference to the strange woman is used both literally and metaphorically

- Destructive

Proverbs 5:4–5 AV 1873

But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on hell.

Proverbs 5:6 AV 1873

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, Her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Protective measures/Safe practices

- Don’t Give Ear to Her Temptation

Proverbs 5:7 AV 1873

Hear me now therefore, O ye children, And depart not from the words of my mouth.

- Stay away - Flee youthful lusts!

Proverbs 5:8 AV 1873

Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house:

3 - Consequences of Distraction

Proverbs 5:9–14 AV 1873

Lest thou give thine honour unto others, And thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; And thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And thou mourn at the last, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was almost in all evil In the midst of the congregation and assembly.

Safety in Marriage - The Right Relationship

Proverbs 5:15–19 AV 1873

Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, And rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, And not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: And rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravisht always with her love.

Conclusion

Why would you?

Proverbs 5:20 AV 1873

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravisht with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Even if you can hide your sin from man, God sees!!

Proverbs 5:21 AV 1873

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And he pondereth all his goings.

Results

Proverbs 5:22–23 AV 1873

His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

God has provided for our happiness

God has provided for our peace and contentment

God has provided for our pleasure and enjoyment

The greatest joy and happiness comes through right relationships. That starts with a right relationship with Jesus Christ.