QT 7/10/2024 Prov 5:18-23, Watch out for the lure of the temptress

Proverbs 5:18–23 (ESV) —

18 Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated always in her love.

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,

and he ponders all his paths.

22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

23 He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.

 

NOTE: The whole of Proverbs 5 is devoted to extramarital sex and more specifically adultery. The result of extramarital relationships are extreme and painful. The folly of listening to the siren call of another woman is long-term disaster. It sounds good at first. It feels good. But, it is a guarantee of pain for the rest of your life, including early death. The passage, while not didactic, since it is a proverb, still should be taken very seriously. God devotes a whole chapter (and more) to this subject. And there are many examples in scripture of how the abuse of God's gift of sex has destroyed marriages and lives.

 

The first step in this path of destruction starts in the mind. As we imagine scenarios, they became more real and more possible. If we can keep our mind on what is good and true, we can cut the tracks of the monster (sexual lust) .

 

PONDER:

1. What is my thought life like? Do I imagine situations thinking that is okay?
2. Pray that God would protect your thought life from Satan's temptations.

 

PRAYER: Father, the appeal of the world and especially sex is very tempting. But it leads on a road to spiritual destruction. We do not lose our salvation if we have put our faith in Jesus, but we ruin our effectiveness and our usefulness here on earth.