Counsel From A Parent I

Friday, May 20, 2022

Like a Deer from the Hunter

6 1-5 Dear friend, if you’ve gone into hock with your neighbor

    or locked yourself into a deal with a stranger,

If you’ve impulsively promised the shirt off your back

    and now find yourself shivering out in the cold,

Friend, don’t waste a minute; get yourself out of that mess.

    You’re in that man’s clutches!

    Go, put on a long face; act desperate.

Don’t procrastinate—

    there’s no time to lose.

Run like a deer from the hunter,

    fly like a bird from the trapper!

-Proverbs 6:1-5 The Message

Practical Warnings

6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

    have given your pledge for a stranger;

2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth,

    caught in the words of your mouth,

3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,

    for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

    go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

4 Give your eyes no sleep

    and your eyelids no slumber;

5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

    like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Verses 1-5 studies: The point in these verses is to not overextend one’s financial resources. You can be generous, but not in a way that you can act irresponsibly, leading to poverty. The balance between generosity and good stewardship is good knowledge to understand. God is not against us helping our fellow man and woman. He is also not against you helping the community, but he doesn’t want us to promise to cover the cost of every unwise commitment we make. Act responsibly so that your family does not suffer.