Mere Cognition

Within the Proverbs, we can find many points of instruction, reproof, exhortation, and application. In Proverbs 6, Solomon addresses the sluggard - one who lives in careless idleness and does little.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
    officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
    and gathers her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

Once again, I go to Matthew Henry for commentary:

By way of instruction, v6-8. He sends him to school, for sluggards must be schooled. He is to take him to school himself, for, if the scholar will take no pains, the master must take the more; the sluggard is not willing to come to school to him (dreaming scholars will never love wakeful teachers) and therefore he has found him out another school, as low as he can desire. Observe,

1. The master he is sent to school to: Go to the ant, to the bee, so the Septuagint. Man is taught more than the beasts of the earth, and made wiser that the fowls of heaven, and yet is so degenerated that he may learn wisdom from the meanest insects and be shamed by them. When we observe the wonderful sagacities of the inferior creatures we must not only give glory to the God of nature, who has made them thus strangely, but receive instruction to ourselves; by spiritualizing common things, we may make the things of God both easy and ready to us, and converse with them daily.

2. The application of mind that is required in order to learn of this master: Consider her ways. The sluggard is so because he does not consider; nor shall we ever learn to any purpose, either by the word or the works of God, unless we set ourselves to consider. Particularly, if we would imitate others in that which is good, we must consider their ways, diligently observe what they do, that we may do likewise.

3. The lesson that is to be learned. In general, learn wisdom, consider, and be wise; that is the thing we are to aim at in all our learning, not only to be knowing, but to be wise. In particular, learn to provide meat in summer; that is, (1.) We must prepare for hereafter, and not mind the present time only, not eat up all, and lay up nothing, but in gathering time treasure up for a spending time. Thus provident we must be in our worldly affairs, not with an anxious care, but with a prudent foresight; lay in for winter, for straits and wants that may happen, and for old age; much more in the affairs of our souls. We must provide meat and food, that which is substantial and will stand us in stead, and which we shall most need. In the enjoyment of the means of grace provide for the want of them, in life for death, in time for eternity; in the state of probation and preparation we must provide for the state of retribution. (2.) We must take pains, and labour in our business, yea, though we labour under inconveniences. Even in summer, when the weather is hot, the ant is busy in gathering food and laying it up, and does not indulge her ease, nor take her pleasure, as the grasshopper, that sings and sports in the summer and then perishes in the winter. The ants help one another; if one have a grain of corn too big for her to carry home, her neighbours will come in to her assistance. (3.) We must improve opportunities, we must gather when it is to be had, as the ant does in summer and harvest, in the proper time. It is our wisdom to improve the season while that favours us, because that may be done then which cannot be done at all, or not so well done, at another time. Walk while you have the light.

4. The advantages which we have of learning this lesson above what the ant has, which will aggravate our slothfulness and neglect if we idle away our time. She has no guides, overseers, and rulers, but does it of herself, following the instinct of nature; the more shame for us who do not in like manner follow the dictates of our own reason and conscience, though besides them we have parents, masters, ministers, magistrates, to put us in mind of our duty, to check us for the neglect of it, to quicken us to it, to direct us in it, and to call us to an account about it. The greater helps we have for working out our salvation the more inexcusable shall we be if we neglect it.

The Bible contains a multitude of warnings on adultery and other forms of sexual immorality. There is good reason for this; even secular sociological and psychological once acknowledged and understood the far reaching damage that can be caused by such acts, both mental and physical. Those that perform these acts are often attempting to fill a void in themselves that they do not quite understand; thus they attempt to do so through poorly-thought and unwise carnal means.

1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    incline your ear to my understanding,
2 that you may keep discretion,
    and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to Sheol;
6 she does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house...

In the book of Matthew, Jesus further expanded the definition of adultery past the physical and into the mental, making it clear that this is not only an issue of misplaced desire, but an issue of the heart:

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent 
      has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

-- Matthew 5:27-28

I've had conversations with people about this. While I freely admit that I am not immune to adultery in the heart (I believe every last man on earth, with the possible exception of eunuchs, could not truthfully say that they are), I do have some specific guardrails against physical adultery that at least help in ensuring that I have an extra edge of protection against it. Some seem to think that by that, I mean that I don't have to worry about it. By no means is this true.

My parents divorced in my early teens - I caught my father unmistakably in adultery with someone I think he met while on TDY as a DoD civil servant. Apparently someone underestimated my proficiency with computers at even a young age and I accidentally stumbled upon the evidence. This discovery practically devastated me during the hormonal upheaval of puberty - I went so far as to joining the football team with the soul purpose of simply crushing opponents (guess who ended up on the defensive line). This was also the time where I effectively became an atheist.

This single act stuck with me. I vowed to never, ever, do that sort of thing to anyone under the pain of death, and I took it that seriously. While I don't go so far as "to the death" today, I do still keep vigilant watch for it. I have a couple of examples that make this abundantly clear.

One that I am not proud of but nonetheless admit to and own, happened in my early 20's when I was dating a girl. We were at a friend's apartment for a get together. Everyone was consuming alcohol and I had my usual more-than-fair-share. At some point, I ended up upstairs, I think it was to use one of the restrooms. I ended up talking with people and eventually everyone dispersed except this one girl, who attempted to "woo" me, for lack of a better term. I remember gently rebuffing it until she started physically touching me, whereupon I grabbed her, dragged her downstairs to the host, and told him something like, "if she comes within ten feet of me the rest of the night I will show her how serious I am about not cheating." I'm not proud of that sort of conduct, but it did get the point across quickly, decisively, and without further incident.

The other one happened in my mid-20s, within a group of hockey friends. There was a husband and wife pair that were good friends - we all spent a lot of time together at hockey games (both pro and amateur as the husband and I were beer league players), get togethers, and other random functions. Needless to say there was a lot of interaction between all the members of that group, bound by the love of hockey. The wife of this pair also happened to be my age and did marching band / winter guard in high school, so we'd often talk about that. Come to find out, we both had actually performed at some of the same competitions in Georgia. So naturally, we found a common band thing to nerd out on. The relationship was strictly platonic, neither of us flirted with the other, and we were never around each other without the husband also being there or nearby. Eventually, at some point, the two of them separated and divorced. Playing in a hockey game with each other at a later point (on the same team, too!), he confided in me that he actually thought she was cheating on him with me. We had a heart to heart over some beers and I explained to him why that would never, ever, happen, especially since they were married. After that, he confided that this wasn't the reason for the split, though he did wonder about it for a long while.

The above won't necessarily convince anyone that I have an extra guardrails around physical adultery, though I hope it does evidence that I don't just simply think I'm immune to it because of my adolescent experiences. On the contrary, it heightens my awareness, sharpens my perception, and reminds me to never let my guard down. I am not certain I've ever recounted the two stories above to more than a couple of people, so it is sort of cathartic to simply recount them in a public forum for anyone to stumble upon. I'm trying to become more open, judiciously. I've been an introvert with innate suspicion of others' motives my whole life but I think it's time to relax that a bit while still staying frosty.

May God have mercy on all of us for our past transgressions as we look to Him and His promises realized through Christ. Be blessed.

I'm starting to think I should just change this study to Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs with how often I'm looking toward his words. They're pertinent however, so it seems prudent to stand on them.

When the things of God are to be taught precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, not only because the things themselves are of great worth and weight, but because men's minds, at the best, are unapt to admit them and commonly prejudiced against them; and therefore Solomon, in this chapter, with a great variety of expression and a pleasant powerful flood of divine eloquence, inculcates the same things that he had pressed upon us in the foregoing chapters. Here is an earnest exhortation to the study of wisdom, that is, of true religion and godliness, borrowed from the good instructions which his father gave him, and enforced with many considerable arguments.

1 Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
2 for I give you good precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son with my father,
    tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 he taught me and said to me,
    "Let your heart hold fast my words;
    keep my commandments, and live."

The invitation which Solomon gives to his children to come and receive instruction from him (Proverbs 4:1-2): Hear, you children, the instruction of a father. That is, “Let my own children, in the first place, receive and give good heed to those instructions which I set down for the use of others also.” Note, Magistrates and ministers, who are entrusted with the direction of larger societies, are concerned to take a more than ordinary care for the good instruction of their own families; from this duty their public work will by no means excuse them. This charity must begin at home, though it must not end there; for he that has not his children in subjection with all gravity, and does not take pains in their good education, how shall he do his duty as he ought to the church of God? (1 Tim 3:4-5). The children of those that are eminent for wisdom and public usefulness ought to improve in knowledge and grace in proportion to the advantages they derive from their relation to such parents. Yet it may be observed, to save both the credit and the comfort of those parents whose children do not answer the hopes that arose from their education, that Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was far from being either one of the wisest or one of the best. We have reason to think that thousands have got more good by Solomon's proverbs than his own son did, to whom they seem to have been dedicated.