Sermon Tone Analysis

RECORD

Anyone who has ever had any kind of interaction with trucking will probably know what I am talking about when I refer to a CVOR

Now for the benefit of the majority of you who have absolutely no idea what that is I will explain it to you

CVOR is an acronym for Commercial Vehicle Operators Record and what it is is kind of like a licence for every trucking company in the province of Ontario to be allowed to operate

Whether you own 1 truck or a fleet of a thousand trucks you are required to purchase a CVOR

It works kind of like your drivers licence, a trucking company’s CVOR is given a certain number of points and for every ticket or infraction that one of your trucks/drivers receives you lose points off your CVOR

This can be for speeding or unsafe load or too heavy of a load or having an

at fault accident or no seat belt or a mistake in your log book or just about anything

And just like your drivers licence the more points that you lose on your CVOR the more it costs for things like insurance and if you lose enough points the provincial government will rescind your permission to operate within the province of Ontario

The number of points permitted on a CVOR is calculated using a very complex formula based on a variety of factors such as number of trucks, number of drivers, amount of kilometers driven during different time periods etc. etc.

At the risk of over simplifying it I will just state that the larger your fleet of trucks and drivers the fewer points you are allowed per truck

Needless to say The Miller Group for whom I used to drive has a very large fleet of trucks that numbers in the thousands and so every accident/infraction made a definite impact upon their CVOR and we were always being reminded to be safe

One particular year the theme for our safety program was “Take Two”

We had shirts, mugs, posters, stickers on our trucks etc. all reminding us to “Take Two”

In fact I still have some of my stuff from back then

The “take two” theme stood for; Take two seconds to makes sure what you are doing is safe

Take Two looks behind your truck before you back

Take two looks at your equipment to make sure it is in proper working order

I tell you all of that this morning because I want you to realize that the “Take Two” concept was not exclusive to Miller, nor was it even original for it is something that we are taught right here in the book of Proverbs

Proverbs

Solomon warns us to “Take two” to “give careful thought” to where we step and the reason is because we have an enemy who prowls around trying to devour us ()

Jesus warned us in that our enemy’s goal is 3 fold

To take away or rob us from what we have received in Jesus

To kill any and all sign of life that is ours because of Jesus

To ruin or destroy the hope and peace that is ours because of Jesus

Now contrary to the way that this verse might make it sound, most often he doesn’t come in swinging and blowing stuff up

More often than not the enemy is subtle and he will work with weapons like shame and guilt and busyness and distraction and grudges

He is the father of lies and the master of temptation promising us satisfaction at the cost of our obedience to God and yet never delivering on his promises

The good news is that Christ has overcome the enemy, Christ has triumphed and anything that the enemy has done, Jesus can make right

The enemy can rob - Jesus can redeem

The enemy can kill - Jesus can resurrect

The enemy can destroy - Jesus can recreate

That’s why the rest of goes on to say but, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

In the 7th chapter of Proverbs Solomon uses the metaphor of a father talking to his sons about the two types of “women” that they will encounter and how each will affect the course of their lives

The two women represent the ways of Godly wisdom and the attraction of doing things according to worldly wisdom

The father’s heart is that his sons would come to “adore” Godly wisdom

To look upon it with such affection and love that they would be tempted by no other and so they would remain true

As you begin to make your way through the chapter there’s a couple of things about Godly wisdom that begin to become more clear

The first thing is that wisdom is something that you have to seek out

Solomon describes the adulteress in this story as an aggressive woman with a “crafty intent” (v 10)

She will pursue them, she will do everything that she can to try and make herself attractive to them and draw them in

But for Godly wisdom he warns that it takes some work on their behalf

In fact in the first few verses Solomon uses words like “keep, store up, and guard”

Wisdom will make you go after it, work for it

Paul told the church in Rome that God’s wisdom is like a deep well

Romans

But James also tells us that for those who want Godly wisdom, it is there waiting for them

James

This benefit of Godly wisdom, Solomon says, far outweighs the effort to acquire it

We also see in our chapter that wisdom is a relationship that you need to cultivate

Anyone who has been serving God for any amount of time will tell you that it took a long time and a lot of Bible study and prayer to get to where they are in Christ

As you continue in seek out wisdom that relationship grows and becomes stronger

The adulteress makes promises of instant gratification, promises of reward without effort, promises that she cannot make good on but that look appealing

In other words the adulteress wants you to jump without looking, to step out with her without stopping first to “take two”

But once again we can see so clearly the difference between the adulteress and the true love of Christ

The adulteress will flatter you into thinking you are something special (a false identity) - Christ proved your worth on the cross (a true identity)

The adulteress will promise what she cannot deliver (false promises) - Jesus has already demonstrated His ability to provide on every promise that is ours in Him (true promise)

The adulteress assures you that you will never get caught (false security) - Jesus promises not to hide our sin but to deal with it both in forgiveness and in becoming righteous (true security)

The adulteress says that God is not home, that He has gone on a long journey and so there is time to get what you want before He returns (false god) - Jesus reminds us that we can be called to give an account before God at any moment and helps us be ready to stand in His presence without fear (true God)

I can assure you with complete confidence this morning that the enemy is very good wrapping up his lies and deceit with just enough truth to make it look like good

He is a master counterfeiter disguising his traps to suck in anyone who is not diligent to know better

Jesus gave us the following warning as He spoke to the disciples about the last days,

Allow me to encourage you this morning to seek out wisdom, to know the answer in your heart before the question comes up in your life and to cultivate that relationship

To “Take two” take two minutes to read your Bible, take two minutes to pray, take two minutes when presented with that attractive option to see how it lines up with God’s Word, take two steps away from the adulteress and take two steps towards the God who loves you and gave Himself for you

This was also Paul’s message to the younger Timothy in the first letter written to him

As Paul was preparing to draw the letter to a close he said this,

Like Solomon’s desire for his sons and like Paul’s desire for his spiritual son, my desire for you this morning is that you would move away from the adultery that is living by the wisdom and standard that this world would try and entice us with and instead fall in love with God’s ways and Godly wisdom knowing that, while it may be tougher to live that way, it is more than worth it

Listen to the stern warning that Solomon ends our chapter with

Now listen to this promise of Jesus,

John

John

Let’s pray