DAY 6 — Don’t Take the Bait | Proverbs 1:10–19

Key Verse: “My son, do not walk in the way with them” (v.15)

 Big Idea: Temptation can disguise itself as opportunity. 

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I noticed something different about the café the moment I walked in.

 It wasn’t quieter. It wasn’t louder. It was sharper—like the air before a storm. Solomon was seated at a small table near the window, his leather notebook closed this time, his hands resting on it like he was waiting for something to surface.

 “Today,” he said as I sat down, “won’t sound threatening at first.”

 That should have been my warning.

 He opened the notebook and turned it toward me. The passage stretched longer than the others we’d read so far. Proverbs 1:10–19. Dense. Descriptive. Uncomfortable.

 “This,” Solomon said, tapping the page, “is about temptation.”

 I nodded. “I’m familiar.”

 “Everyone is,” he replied. “That’s why it works.”

 Before I could ask what he meant, a group at the next table burst into laughter. Confident. Loud. The kind of energy that draws attention without asking permission. One of them leaned in toward another, lowering his voice just enough to sound important.

 “Easy win,” he said. “No real downside.”

 Solomon didn’t look over, but I felt like the timing wasn’t accidental.

 “Notice how temptation speaks in this passage,” Solomon said. “Not as danger—but as invitation. ‘Come with us.’ ‘Join in.’ ‘Everyone benefits.’ It promises gain without cost, reward without consequence.”

 I frowned. “That’s… uncomfortably accurate.”

 Solomon sketched a simple hook in the notebook. No explanation yet.

 “Temptation rarely looks like sabotage,” he continued. “It looks like opportunity. A shortcut. A way around patience. A chance to get ahead without waiting your turn.”

 He tapped the hook. “Bait never looks like a trap.”

 That one hit closer to home than I wanted.

 Mara appeared then, hovering near our table. “Mind if I sit?” she asked.

 “Please,” Solomon said, sliding the notebook so all three of us could see.

 She glanced at the passage and let out a quiet breath. “I almost made a decision this week that would’ve looked smart on paper,” she said. “But something about it felt off.”

 Solomon nodded. “That’s often the moment wisdom speaks the softest—and temptation speaks the loudest.”

 I leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “The scary part is how reasonable it all sounds.”

 “Yes,” Solomon said. “Temptation doesn’t yell. It persuades. It crowds out caution with urgency. It tells you, ‘If you don’t act now, you’ll miss out.’”

 He pointed to verse 15. “‘Stay far away from their paths.’ Not ‘argue with them.’ Not ‘see how close you can get.’ Distance is the wisdom here.”

 “That feels extreme,” I said.

 “Because you’re underestimating gravity,” Solomon replied calmly. “You don’t step over the edge of a cliff to prove you won’t fall.”

 Mara nodded slowly. “I kept telling myself I could control it.”

 Solomon’s eyes softened. “That’s always the lie. The moment you believe you’re immune is the moment the hook sets.”

 I thought about moments I’d brushed past red flags because the payoff looked good. Relationships. Deals. Words spoken in frustration. Each time, the damage hadn’t shown up immediately.

 “Here’s the part people miss,” Solomon said, closing the notebook. “This passage isn’t just about bad people doing bad things. It’s about how choices shape the chooser. The path you walk eventually walks you.”

 That landed heavy.

 He stood, gathering his things. “Tomorrow,” he said, “we’ll talk about wisdom calling out—and why ignoring it always feels easier than it should.”

 As he left, Mara lingered for a moment. “It’s strange,” she said. “The older I get, the less obvious the traps look.”

 “Yeah,” I said quietly. “Same.”

 Outside, the world buzzed with options, offers, invitations—most of them harmless, some of them not. And for the first time, I realized how often I’d mistaken urgency for opportunity.

 Three thoughts followed me into the day.

 

 What? Temptation often arrives sounding friendly, reasonable, and rewarding—hiding its cost until it’s too late.

 So What? Ignoring warning signs and getting too close to risky paths reshapes us in ways we don’t immediately see.

 Now What? When something feels urgent but off, create distance instead of debating it. Don’t take the bait.