Delete Their Number! Why Your Circle Is A Cage | Proverbs 1

If they’re clapping for your bad decisions, that’s not a circle. That’s a cage. 🚨

We love to say we didn't see the relapse coming. We say it "snuck up" on us. But if we are honest? The signs were there. The "gut check" was there. And usually... the wrong people were there, too.

Today is Day 1 of our new series: "A Proverb A Day Keeps The Police Away." 🚓💨

We’re hitting 31 chapters of Proverbs in 31 days, reading from The Message version to get the raw, unfiltered street smarts we need to survive the holidays.

In Chapter 1, Solomon doesn't pull punches. He tells us: 1️⃣ Check your ego: You can’t fill a cup that’s already full of itself. 2️⃣ Audit your circle: If your friends want to "raise hell," delete the number. 3️⃣ Listen to the yelling: Wisdom isn't whispering; she’s screaming in the streets.

Join me for the reading. Let’s get our minds right for December.

👇 Watch the full video https://youtu.be/9BVwICtu70w

#SoberNotBoring #Recovery #Proverbs1 #StreetSmarts #RecoveryCommunity #SoberLife #Wisdom

00:00 Introduction: Navigating Recovery 00:33 A Proverb A Day: Series Introduction 00:47 Day One: The Wisdom of Solomon 01:58 The Foundation of Recovery: Humility 02:19 Avoiding Bad Influences 04:09 Wisdom's Warning 06:41 Applying Chapter One to Recovery

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You can white knuckle yourway through the holidays.

(00:02):
You can delete your dealer's numberand even pass a drug screen or two,
but then life throws a curve ball.
Maybe it's a toxic relationshipor a shady business deal.
Or maybe just a moment of pureego, and then suddenly you're one
bad decision away from the bluelights in your rear view mirror.
If you're navigating recovery,you know that getting sober

(00:25):
is only the first battle.
Living sober, though that's ahigh stakes arena where common
sense isn't always common.
That's why for the month of December,we're doing a series called A
Proverb A Day, keeps the Police Away.
We are hitting 31 chapters in 31 daysand grabbing the raw, unfiltered,
street smarts that we need to survive.

(00:47):
Today is day one.
So we are reading out of themessage version because it
reads like people actually talk.
Here's how Solomon kicks it off.
These are the wise sayings of Solomon,David's son, Israel's king, written
down so that we'll know how to livewell and right to understand what
life means and where it's going.
This is a manual for living, for learningwhat's right and just and fair to teach

(01:12):
the inexperienced, the ropes, and togive our young people a grasp on reality.
There's something here also forseasoned men and women, still a thing
or two, for the experienced to learn.
Fresh wisdom, to probe and penetrate therhymes and reasons of wise men and women.
Start with God.
The first step in learning is bowingdown to God only fools thumb, their

(01:36):
noses at such wisdom and learning.
Did you catch that last part?
Only fools thumb, their noses at wisdom.
I know in my active addiction, I wasthe king of thumbing my nose at advice.
I thought I was the generalmanager of the universe.
I thought I had it all figured outright up until the handcuffs went on.

(01:58):
This chapter tells us thatthe foundation of recovery and
staying out trouble is humility.
It's admitting, I don't know everything.
If you walk into a room thinkingthat you're the smartest person
there, you can't learn anything.
You can't fill a cup thatis already full of itself.
All right, so let's jumpback in here at verse eight.

(02:19):
Here.
Solomon warns us about thebiggest threat to our freedom.
Listen to this, pay close attention,friend to what your father tells you.
Never forget what you learnedat your mother's knee.
Wear their counsel like a winning crown.
Like rings on your fingers.
Dear friend, if bad companionstempt you, don't go along with them.

(02:42):
If they say, let's go out andraise some hell, let's beat up some
old man and mug some old woman.
Let's pick them clean and getthem ready for their funerals.
We'll load up on top quality loot, andwe'll haul it home by the truckload.
Join us for the time of your life.
With us it's Share and Share alike.

(03:02):
Oh friend.
Don't give them a second look.
Don't listen to them for a minute.
They're racing to a very bad end.
They're hurrying to ruineverything that they lay hands on.
Nobody robs a bank with everyone watchingyet that's what these people are doing.
They're doing themselves in.

(03:23):
When you grab all you canget, that's what happens.
The more you get, the less you are.
We actually have a phrase for this.
In the recovery community, it'speople, places, and things.
we often think peer pressureends in high school, it doesn't.
Newsflash, it just gets moreexpensive and more dangerous.

(03:45):
So if you're hanging around people whoare raising hell, you're gonna get burned.
This isn't about judging them,it's about protecting your peace.
If your circle is clapping foryour bad decisions, you don't
have a circle, you have a cage.
Chapter one is telling you to checkyour contact list, and if they deal
in chaos, delete the number Allright, let's jump back in here.

(04:09):
Here are the chapter ends with a scenethat might feel familiar to some of us.
Wisdom isn't hiding.
She's screaming.
Lady wisdom goes out in the streetand shouts at the town center.
She makes her speech inthe middle of the traffic.
She takes her stand at the busiest corner.
She calls out Simpletons.

(04:31):
How long will you wallowin ignorance, cynics.
How long will you feedyour cynicism Idiots.
How long will you refuse to learn?
About face, I can revise your life.
look, I'm ready to pourout my spirit on you.
I'm ready to tell you all I know.

(04:52):
As it is, I've called butyou've turned a deaf ear.
I've reached out to you,but you've ignored me.
Since you laugh at my counseland make a joke of my advice,
how can I take you seriously?
I'll turn the tables andjoke about your troubles.
What if the roof falls in andyour whole life goes to pieces?

(05:14):
What if catastrophe strikesand there's nothing to show for
your life but rubble and ashes?
You'll need me then you'll callfor me, but don't expect an answer.
No matter how hard you look, you won'tfind me because you hated knowledge and
had nothing to do with the fear of Godbecause you wouldn't take my advice and

(05:35):
brushed aside all my offers to train you.
Well, you've made your bed now lie in it.
You wanted your own way.
Now, how do you like it?
Don't you see what happens?
You simpletons, you idiots, carelessness.
Kills.
Complacency is murder.

(05:56):
First, pay attention to me and then relax.
Now you can take it easy.
You're in good hands, Oh, we love to say,I didn't see the signs, or it happened
so fast, but Proverbs says, wisdom isliterally screaming in the streets.
That gut check that you ignored that redflag that you decided to paint white, that

(06:20):
anxiety that you felt before you walkedinto that bar or that bad relationship,
that was wisdom shouting at you.
The promise here though, is beautiful.
The one who listens lives asecure life, no fear of harm.
And that's the goal.
That's the whole "keep the policeaway" part of this whole series.

(06:40):
So how do we apply chapterone to our recovery today?
Here are your three takeaways.
Number one, check your ego.
Be teachable.
You don't know everything, andthat's okay today, number two.
Audit your circle.
If they tempt you to raise hell,they're not really your friends.
And number three, listen to theyelling when your gut screams.

(07:03):
No, don't debate it.
Respect it.
I'll see you tomorrow.
For chapter two, we're gonna be talkingall about how to find hidden treasure.
So if this has helped you,can you do me a favor?
Hit the subscribe button and sharethis with someone who may need a
little street smart wisdom today.
And remember, Recovery is real.
God is good.
And sobriety is not boring.

(07:25):
We'll see you tomorrow friends.