08/07/2014 - WARNING AGAINST SNARES

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Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. Proverbs 22.24,25

Because he cares for us—his children—God included in the Scriptures several warnings, and if we pay attention to them, they will save us a lot of trouble. One of these warnings is in the verse we are studying today. The author is talking about an angry, furious man (one who is constantly outraged, infuriated), whose example we should not follow. The truth is that our role model must be Jesus.

According to the Almighty God, if you go with an angry man, you will end up acting in the same way he does, and since his way of living is not good, it is not advisable for righteous people. Sooner or later, he will get into trouble, and you may be dragged along into it. Additionally, the spirit that drives him to live in this manner might take over you as well, which definitely will not be good for you, as it is not good to anyone.

A furious man does not walk God’s path, so his company might cause you harm. The truth is any person who is not walking God’s path is potentially dangerous, because the evil one, who has dominion over this world, knowing that you are a servant of God, will open your eyes to the “wisdom” of such person. As a result, it is likely that you will want to follow in this person’s footsteps.

The paths of those who walk according to the course of this world are not good. If you learn from them, there will be serious consequences to your life, and—depending on what happens—this may lead to eternal damnation. God’s people must live in each other’s company; we must never let ourselves get carried away by the devil’s deceitful ways, because they will make us trip on the net of misery.

Acting against God’s instructions becomes a snare to our souls. When a person falls into a trap, the least harm done will be a trauma that will follow him for the rest of his life. As deep calls unto deep (Psalm 42.7), the devil that overcomes a Christian (when he follows the example of an angry or furious man) calls his “friends”—devils even more harmful than the first one—to control his soul and make him a slave to Satan.

We have Jesus as our role model. With him, we will suffer no harm; but without him we will never know what happiness really is. Why would you forsake the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2.13) to pursue Satan’s lies? With Christ, there is not the slightest chance that you will fall into the hands of evil spirits.

Pray for a life far from any bad examples, so that you are kept out of the radius of action of the demons that have control over these people, and will certainly control those who are friends with those who are lost and slaves to the evil one.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares