Insight for Today

Read Proverbs 5:23

Samson was a he-man with a she-weakness. Although he was born of godly parents, set apart from his birth to be a Nazirite, and elevated to the enviable position of judge in Israel, he never won the battle with lust. Instead, lust eventually conquered him. Several things that illustrate his lustful bent may be observed from the record of his life, each one in the book of Judges.

Read Ephesians 5:15-19

I’m passionate about time management. I want efficiency and effectiveness. In fact, a weakness of mine is books on the investment of my time. Books that tell me how to replace being busy with being effective. Books that caution me to think things through before plunging into them.

Thankfully, God’s Word speaks straight to the heart of that issue. The apostle Paul wrote about it in his letter to the Ephesians:

Read Hebrews 13:3

On that icy January morning, in a twenty-five-cent-a-night flophouse, a shell of a man who looked twice his age staggered to the washbasin and fell. The basin toppled and shattered.

He was found lying in a heap, unclothed and bleeding from a deep gash in his throat. His forehead was badly bruised, and he was semiconscious. A doctor used black sewing thread that somebody had found to suture the wound. All the while the bum begged for a drink. A buddy shared the bottom of a rum bottle to calm his nerves.

Read Proverbs 26:23, 26

Leonard was a paragon of respectability. The middle-aged, hardworking lab technician had worked at the same Pennsylvania paper mill for nineteen years. Having been a Boy Scout leader, an affectionate father, a member of the local fire brigade, and a regular churchgoer, he was admired as a model in his community.