FBC Morning Light – November 10, 2022

Well, good Thursday morning to you. Today we're looking at a couple of verses in our reading in Proverbs chapter 29, specifically going to focus on verses 5 and 6, because there is a thread that ties these two together.

The main point of the proverb in verse 5 doesn't really have any connection to the main point of the proverb in verse 6, but there is nevertheless a thread that ties them together, and that thread is a trap, a snare.

So let me read the two verses and you'll see the connection. Verse 5, he says a man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

Then in verse 6, it says, by transgression an evil man is snared, but the righteous sings and rejoices.

Look at that first one, the first verse again, verse 5. A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

There can be two ways of understanding that, and both correct as application of this verse.

One is that the flatterer can be the one who is spreading the net to try to capture his neighbor in some way, and the way this often works is the flatterer wants to make the neighbor feel good about something so that the flatterer can get what he wants from the neighbor, whether it's approval or something, anything, it can be just about anything.

But he knows that he's got to get that neighbor on his good side, he's got to get that neighbor to think well of him, and so forth.

So he flatters him, he flatters him, and when he does so, he catches the neighbor, he snares him, and then the neighbor ends up giving the guy what he wants.

But another way of looking at this is a little more...it's

a little more harmful, I think, because, you know, the neighbor can recognize the flattery for what it is, and not give in to the flatterer and what the flatterer wants.

But there's another way of looking at this. Okay, think of it like this. What's the problem with our current culture's child -rearing mentality that says that we have to constantly be praising children?

So, you know, a child fails a test, and instead of holding him accountable and challenging him to work harder and study harder, we flatter him.

We say, oh, well look at the ones you got right, you're such a smart kid, you're so intelligent, you know, and all that.

You tell a child that he is smart and he's intelligent and he's, you know, he's above the top of his class and all that, when he's not, that's just flattery.

And what that does to that child is it spreads a net for his feet.

He's gonna grow up thinking more highly of himself than he ought to think, and that's gonna cause him all kinds of trouble down the road.

I actually think we're seeing a lot of that, we're reaping that in some of the young people in our culture today.

They think they're entitled, they think they deserve certain things. I mean, after all, they got a trophy just for participating in soccer.

You know, they should be able to make, you know, $20 an hour in their first job.

I mean, after all, aren't I entitled to it? I'm such a good person, I'm so worthy,

I've been told I'm worthy. A snare has been laid for their feet and they've been trapped.

It's gonna cause them problems. Much better to just be honest.

Just be honest and tell the truth, and that includes in our child -rearing.

And I want to encourage moms and dads, don't fall prey to this mentality that says you can't correct your child, you can't be honest with your child and tell them that they need to improve in certain areas, and that it's okay not to win, it's okay not to get a ribbon, not to get a trophy, it's okay.

You don't have to be a Michael Jordan playing basketball. You don't have to be a Tiger Woods playing golf.

You're not. You're not. So don't flatter your children.

Now the next verse, verse 6, says, by transgression an evil man is snared, and isn't that the case?

What does sin do to us? It's like a trap. It traps us, it ensnares us in feelings of guilt and regret, remorse.

Oftentimes that transgression can trap us into a sort of bondage and an addiction that we have a terribly difficult time breaking free from.

It can ensnare us in sorrow, and in so many different ways.

It can ensnare us by causing damage in our relationships and in our finances, and in so many, so many different ways.

Transgression, an evil man is snared. Look at the second part of that verse, though.

But the righteous sings and rejoices. In contrast to the feeling of being trapped, when our lives are marked by righteousness, we forsake the snares of the transgressions, and we grow in that ability to say no to the world and the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and all those things that are ensnaring in the world.

The more we grow in our ability to say no, what we also grow in is our experience of lightheartedness, a rejoicing, a singing spirit.

Righteousness yields a lightness of heart that breaks out in song and gladness.

Let's pursue righteousness. Let's forsake transgression. Our Father and our

God, I pray that you would deliver us from the snares that can so easily trap us.

May we not be guilty of flattery. May we not listen to it and be trapped by it.

And Father, deliver us from transgression. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from that evil, that we may be righteous and thereby experience the lightheartedness and joy that comes with such righteousness.

And this we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well have a good rest of your