6:6-11
These verses can be misinterpreted and taken out of context so beware!
The grouping of these verses in this chapter is often described as a warning against folly. And these 6 verses describe the folly of laziness. The foolishness of too much lying around not doing anything.
God wants us to have down time but not all the time! God want us to work for our food and contribute to society. God DOES NOT want people to be denied assistance with food and other support when they are in financial need. God DOES NOT want you to feel you have to work incessantly. God wants you to work and rest and find a healthy balance between the two. And when you need help, He wants there to be support for you until you don’t need help any longer.
God knows that it is when we work and provide for ourselves that we feel best about ourselves. God also knows that time to rest and enjoy life is also important.
 

6:1-5
This is about being prudent and appears to carry many warnings.
The first is the dangers of giving surety for another person. Stories abound of the person who invested all their money in a friend’s business venture, only to lose it when the business failed, or the person who agreed to act as guarantor on the loan of another only to have the other person default on the loan and find themselves saddled with another person’s debt. The warning here appears to be that we must be very wary of doing this.
The other warning here is that if you have found yourself in this situation, instead of fighting the friend for the money, focus on humbling yourself to the creditor and seek resolution of the issue directly with them. Be proactive in attending to this. Do not wait until the creditor forecloses on the debt.
The main message here, apart from exercising caution, is to not allow yourself to be exposed to a greater debt than you can pay and if your friend reneges on the debt, waste no time humbling yourself to the creditor and settling the debt. You may be able to come to an arrangement with the debtor that lessens what you owe if you act quickly, proactively and humbly. Don’t waste time arguing with your friend. You can deal with them later. Look after yourself and your family’s needs.
So how do we apply this to our lives?
There is the warning to be cautious about guaranteeing another person’s debt as well as the warning to be proactive in settling with the creditor when the debtor defaults. There is also the instruction to not get yourself in this situation if you can help it. You may be in a community that pressures you to guarantee other’s debts. Note here the instruction is not that you must do that. And if other Christians are pressuring you to do that then note the instruction here in Proverbs. DON’T. You will honour God more by looking after your family and avoiding such financial traps and it is not your responsibility to guarantee another person’s debt UNLESS God specifically instructs you to do so.
 

5:1-23
This chapter is ostensibly about adultery, but there are also messages for all people. And one is here in the opening verses. Listen to the wisdom of those older than you. I know that can be hard. There are plenty of people out there who ‘tell’ others what to do, especially when their advice has not been sought. But the act of doing that is unwise. It is however helpful to seek the wise counsel of those who have more experience of life and it is wise to consider their words.
In this chapter the wise counsel is to remember how God loves you and wants you to live a chaste, Godly life. Your lips are to preserve knowledge (v2). In Malachi 2:7 the same words are used to describe God’s instructions to priests, as messengers of God. We are all messengers of God and our lips should speak to ‘preserve knowledge’. We must also maintain discretion with our lips (v2). This is in contrast to the adulteress whose lips drip honey (v3).
For a man who may be bored with his marriage, the words of another woman may seem like lovely honey. He may be captivated by the difference of this other woman. But this relationship will likely lead to the ruin of the relationship he has with his wife. Maybe he doesn’t care. Maybe the impact on his wife, children, even finances might be a cost he doesn’t think or care about? But will it be without a cost that hurts him?
According to God – NO.
The files of criminal courts are full of stories of men who took their adultery to the extreme of killing their wives to be with their mistresses. Many as a result of ultimatums delivered by the mistress for him to leave his wife. Because his words are honey to her as well. For the man convicted of killing his wife the cost is terrible. Exposed as a heartless killer who killed the woman he supposedly loved. Whose children suffer the loss of their mother and knowledge their father killed her. Exposed as a man who killed for another woman. Financially ruined. Reputation destroyed. The ruin came because of the step to cheat on their wives and all that followed.
Of course women do this as well. And some women know they are having an affair with a married men. And they don’t care about the anguish it causes. For some women the cost is worth it. For other women there is ruin as well. The woman whose lover killed his wife for her is judged very harshly and carries that guilt forever.
So not everyone is going to commit adultery but there is still a message in here for all of us. This chapter emphasises the importance of leading a disciplined life, of making right choices and not giving in to temptation (v11-14, 23). Of choosing the path of wisdom.