The danger of being lured away by temptation, both within and without the home, has never been more treacherous than it is today. The inducement of evil by the wicked is pervasive, glamorized and invasive through the Internet, television programing, movies and the music industry. We are facing a generation whose parents have failed miserably—having given their children every faddish electronic gadget, pacified their every whim, while failing to address the spiritual void in the souls of their sons and daughters. The children of the 21st century lack the trained moral conscience to turn from sin and the path of the wicked! Mom and dad, it behooves you to teach your children the proverbs of Solomon found in today’s devotional!
I will begin with a review of Proverbs 1:10-14 to put today’s devotional in context.
Proverbs 1:10-14 – “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 11 If 
they [sinners] say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood [to shed blood; thirst for violence], let us lurk privily [lie in ambush] for the innocent without cause [unprovoked]: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole [completely], as those that go down into the pit [dead]: 13 We shall find all precious substance, [prospering at the expense of others] we shall fill our houses with spoil [the wicked take what belongs to others]: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse [like a gang]:”
Solomon continues his counsel concerning the temptations of sin and sinners by urging his son to take responsibility for his choices.
Proverbs 1:15-18 – “My son, walk not thou in the way with them [sinners]; refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their [sinners] feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood [sin and wickedness is sport to them]. 17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives [the evil devices of sinners will eventually destroy them].”
Solomon’s counsel is refreshingly simple, straightforward and void of the psychological “mumbo jumbo” 21st century parents employ when answering an adolescent child’s incessant “Why?” questions.
What should a son or daughter do when facing temptation?
1) Separate from sinners (1:15; 2 Corinthians 6:17).
2) Why? It is the sport of sinners to entrap and harm the innocent and foolish (1:16-17).
3) Warning: The foolish and naive will share the fate of sinners they befriend (1:18-19).
Solomon closes today’s devotional with a warning concerning the sin of covetousness.
Proverbs 1:19 – “[Like the sinner whose nature was exposed in earlier proverbs] So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain [covetousness and materialism]; which [greed] taketh away [to seize and plunder] the life of the owners thereof [greed will destroy those under its power].”
Covetousness is pervasive in our society and its tentacles will invade and induce all 
manner of sin and wickedness in man. Greed, the passion that is never satisfied, is the cause of much sorrow in our day and Christians are not exempt from its curse.
1 Timothy 6:10 – “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Copyright 2014 – Travis D. Smith