The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Proverbs 1:10-19, “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 cause;

12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

13 We shall find all kinds of precious wealth, We shall fill our houses with spoil;

14 Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,”

15 My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,

16 For their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed blood.

17 Indeed, it is useless to spread the net In the eyes of any bird;

18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.

19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors.”

I think I’m pretty safe in saying that Solomon, who authored these verses, never saw a western on TV.

In fact, in Solomon’s day, there was no television. Yet, amazingly he captured the basic theme of

almost all westerns.

Three cowboys rob the bank. They avoid the sheriff and get safely out of town.

They stop by a stream to water their horses. The leader gives the horse-watering task

to one of the men, and while he’s away, the leader suggests that the bank money they

stole would split better two ways than three. So, they shoot the one who watered the

horses and hurry away, lest the Sheriff’s posse catch up to them.

What Solomon adds to the scenario I painted in the paragraph above is clear as crystal:

18 “But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.

19 So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the

life of its possessors.”

What could be clearer that that? They leaned on their own wisdom and lost their lives in the process.

Pretty dumb, huh? But, before we come down too hard on those crooks, maybe we should take a good

look in the mirror. We are all too often our own worst enemy! Of course, theft of any kind is wrong. Yet,

even worse is the failure to understand how our wrong-doings can backfire on us! What causes that?

It’s very simple. We just don’t think things through. Especially that’s so, if anger in involved. We work

ourselves up to believe that we’re going to get even –or more! Anger clouds the judgment, and in the

end, we lose it all.

What was Solomon’s advice? He gave it right at the top: “…if sinners entice you, DO NOT CONSENT!”

You’re not smarter than Solomon. You need the Supreme Advice of the LORD! If you’ve given Him your

heart and life, you belong to Him. He is your LORD, and your will is not your own. You’ve been bought

with a price. If you’ve not given your heart and life to Him, it’s the best judgment to do so before you make

a major mistake. God loves you! He wants the best for your life! Seek Him in prayer, and act as He directs!

His outcomes are always superior to our own.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”