We are told in 1 Peter 2:9 that all believers are priests. One of the responsibilities of being a priest is to guard knowledge (Malachi 2:7). We worked some of that out Sunday morning, but I didn’t have time to look at the contrast between mouths that guard truth and mouths that don’t. As God’s priests how should we guard God’s truth? Let’s think the contrast found in Proverbs 4 and 5.

The writer of Proverbs advises us to be attentive to his words (4:20 aka, wisdom). This careful attention paid to wisdom is accomplished by guarding wisdom (“keep them within your heart” [4:21, see also 5:2]). The word “keep” is the same word we looked at in Malachi 2:7 (“for the lips of the priest should guard knowledge”). Now comes what I believe to be helpful contrast…

In contrast to lips that guard wisdom are lips that guard nothing but their own interests (5:3-6). He calls lips like those the lips of immorality (a personification). Notice how they are described in 5:3:

In other words, they are sweet and they are smooth; they taste and feel good. Those who choose to live immorally will have the feeling like nothing ever has been this good. They’ll shout, “I’ve never been more free to be myself! I’m really alive!” And you know what? The Bible doesn’t disagree. But look at where it all ends up…

“⁴But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. ⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol.” (5:4-5)

Living for pleasure is like drinking poison and swallowing a Buck knife. And in the end it leads to death and destruction. It may taste and feel good now, but later it will destroy.

There is a huge difference between lips that guard wisdom and lips that drip with honey. The one who guards wisdom tells the truth in love, but the one who doesn’t lies about what’s coming around the corner if we keep going in that direction and making the wrong choices.

Grace & Peace,