Mouth Trap, Proverbs 20:25

Mouth Trap

Proverbs 20:25  It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.

At work we have been setting traps for squirrels. The get into our visitor's concession stand and we don't know how. So, we set traps and lure them into a box with some peanut butter and when they go in, the door drops behind them and they are caught. There is no way for them to escape. Why are the squirrels so dumb... one reason is that the smell of the peanut butter produces a desire that blocks all other senses and they think of nothing but to have a nibble. soon it is too late. There is no return.

It is the same for man. When temptation comes, we often loose sight of our surrounding and SNAP! It's too late; we are caught. This too happens verbally. Someone offers you drugs, "No thanks, not today." You just committed drinking on another day. The same goes for alcohol, sex and other things. Instead of saying, "No that would be wrong," some say, "We shouldn't." You just postponed question until a day when you might yes. We need to wisely consider our responses to doing wrong.

There are others ways our mouth gets us trapped. "Will you help with the meal on Friday night." A quick yes and you have made them happy. But then you remember you have promised someone else for that night. "Who will give sacrificially to the Lord and support our building fund," the pastor says. In the heat of the moment you commit to $5000. Afterwards you wake up and realize there is no way you can do that. You just got a house, you attend an "event"... "Buy, buy," says the salesman. You should have said bye, bye, but now you have wonderful new windows at $20,000! And that's just the downstairs windows.

K and A, it is easy to say yes without thinking it through. What foolishness. I can remember buying a set of knives for $20, they were cheap junk. I also remember the feeling when I got my twenty out to buy it... I just had to have them. Fortunately we canceled the windows we bought for that $20,000. Maybe yours will be a pots and pans set, or baby furniture, maybe a spouse, or a relationship. Maybe it will be a commitment to God. What ever it is, think it through before you are caught by what you agreed to. Look up the story of Jephthah's foolish vow to the Lord in Judges 11. Leave the traps for the mice.

~Dad