It’s pretty safe to say the entire chapter 6 of Proverbs is about money and relationships. Here’s my comments one passage at a time:
Proverbs 6:1-5
1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 2 you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth. 3 So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion— and give your neighbor no rest! 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. 5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
This is basically saying KEEP YOUR WORD! If you promise to do something, DO IT NO MATTER WHAT. As it pertains to money, you borrow – you pay, even if you have to work your butt off with “gazelle intensity” as Dave Ramsey puts it.
Proverbs 6:6-11
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
WORK HARD or BE BROKE, and work hard without having to be told. Ants don’t have to be told to get in to anything and everything they can find to store up for food – they just do it. Why do humans have to be forced to work and provide for themselves?
Proverbs 6:20-24
20 My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 21 Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck. 22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. 23 For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life, 24 keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.
Your momma and daddy done did teach you better than that (or at least they were supposed to). LISTEN to wise counsel and apply it to your life.
Proverbs 6:25-35
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. 26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life. 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. 30 People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. 31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. 32 But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself. 33 Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away. 34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. 35 He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.
Another great warning against adultery. To me this sounds like it’s worse to fail with a married woman than it is a prostitute, but both are sin and all sin is equal… The thief vs. adulterer analogy is interesting to me too. To me it says, “Stealing is bad and will be punished. Committing adultery is stupid and a lifetime of hell on earth is the punishment.” I think the whole bit about the jealousy of the husband applies to both husband and wife of our modern day culture. Commit adultery with another persons spouse and they will hunt you down like a low down dirty dog, as is deserved.
God, my prayer for myself and anyone reading this is that we continually seek wisdom, work hard, be good stewards, keep our word, and remain pure.
