Smooth Talk

For Friday, October 20, 2006
Proverbs 7:16-27

16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home."

21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24 And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.

The smooth talker lures her victim in with promises of exotic and erotic adventure (16-17), of love (18), and of safety (19-20). However exciting the adventure may be to the fool, love certainly has nothing to do with her designs. See clearly the contrast between false sexual love and real love that flows from the love of God. One is a momentary illusion that leads to devastation. The other is an eternal force that builds one up to living a meaningful, blessed life.

The assurance that the husband is away is not only a comforting thought for one's safety, but hads to the pleasure of the fool thinking that he is making a fool of another man. At no other instance is a fool's folly so evident as when he thinks he is outwitting another person. As 21-23 make clear, he is merely setting himself up for his own entrapment.

The answer for us all is not to become wise enough to outwit the forbidden women. The teacher does not counsel his sons how to debate the women nor how to instruct her. He tells them to turn away from her altogether. The simpleton in this chapter walked into his own trap by knowingly walking to where the forbidden women lived. Walk away from smooth talk. Do not answer it; do not try to reason with it. Walk away.

The Road Wrongly Traveled

For Thursday, October 19, 2006
Proverbs 7:6-15

6 For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.

10 And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
11 She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
14 "I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

The simple man is about to fall prey to a woman wanting his money and to use him for her own purposes. But he falls prey because he knowingly puts himself in the position to be lured. He walks to her house and at a time he knows she will be looking for a "customer" and in the night where his own actions can be hidden. The forbidden woman uses her wiles to lure him, but then he is already desirous of her.

Consider her ways. She is bold, upfront with her intentions, flaunting her body and her desires. Verse 14 is probably a reference to a pagan feast day that she uses as an excuse for her actions.

How pathetic they both are - a senseless young man who looks to a prostituting wife for happiness. That is the motive for them both. They want to be happy through sex and money. The adventure of forbidden sex pushes the man; the rush of power for the woman in dominating yet another man - these are the cheap thrills that will cost them their lives and will rob them of meaningful living.

It is good to seek happiness, but seek it where it truly lies - in the gospel of Christ, in the glory of the Lord. Understand that you will not find power to withstand worldly and illicit sexual pleasure until you grasp that your choice is not giving up pleasure for duty, but of giving up illusory pleasure that harms you and turning to the One who seeks you as the Good Shepherd and carries you in his arms.

The Best Intimate Friend

For Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Proverbs 7:1-5

1 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words.

How do we expect to withstand the enticements of the "forbidden woman," if we treat her and her companions as our kin and regard the values of the world as our intimate friend? How do we do so? We turn to the secular entertainment world for our nurture. We depend on TV sitcoms and reality shows to present the priority issues and the values we are to hold. Do you differ? How much time do you spend watching secular entertainment versus attending church and engaged in Christian education? Twenty hours plus of weekly secular entertainment versus one to three hours of worship and Bible study will impact your mind and your will.

How much now is the Christian community immune to hearing profanity, viewing illicit sex and gratuitous violence, and associating in activities that oppose the gospel? To say to wisdom, "You are my sister," means more than giving passing attention to a sermon. It means to more than reading the Bible. One must study the Scriptures and meditate upon them. One must study the teachings of wise and godly teachers. One must developed the skill to think Christianly. It does not come naturally, even to the redeemed believer. We have been too much tainted with sin to take to the gospel truths easily.

Keep, keep, keep the commandments and the promises of God's Word ever before you and within you. Do you find reading the Word difficult and studying theology boring? Would you rather be watching a show that though it expouses worldly values, it makes you laugh and entertains you? Then repent and all the more discipline yourself to embrace what is true and good and God-honoring. Life is not a TV show. The stakes are real and they are high. Satan wants your soul, and if he cannot get it, he at least wants to render you ineffective for God. All the more, then, embrace the wisdom of God's Word.

Lacking Sense

For Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Proverbs 6:25-35

25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,
but a married woman hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
none who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 Wounds and dishonor will he get,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

The key verse is 32 - He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. Sex makes fools of us, and illicit sex sends us to our destruction. How else can we explain the actions of both men and women who sacrifice marriages - good marriages - and families, and who ruin their reputations and careers because of the wink of eyelashes and a few words spoken?

There is at least some logic to the actions of a thief; one can even understand someone protecting himself through lies. But to commit adultery with a married woman or with a married man? Again, there is some empathy for a person yielding to sexual impulses, but what is the instinct for adultery with a married person? Why do woman latch on to married men who either will not make a commitment to them or must destroy their marriages to do so? Do these women believe they can then trust these men to be faithful to them? Why do men yield to the charms of a married woman? If she is willing to make a fool of her husband, is she not willing to make fools of them?

Desperate Housewives may be a joke for TV, but it's topic is devastating in the real world. People's hearts are broken; their lives are ruined; children suffer and all because someone cannot control his or her sexual impulses.

Why do you suppose so much space is given in Proverbs on this subject of illicit sex? Is it not because the temptation so strong and the consequences so devastating? All the more then stay away. Be faithful to your spouse. If you are single, be chaste. However difficult you may think your situation is or your desires so strong, you will rue the day you yield. Do not carry fire next to your chest, but stay away from the sexual allures of this world.

The Teachings of Parents

For Monday, October 16, 2006
Proverbs 6:20-24

20 My son, keep your father's commandment,
and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always;
tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

Listen, keep, and remember the lessons of your parents. They will guide you and protect you throughout your life. If you keep them, they will protect you from the most pervasive of temptations in our society - that of sexual sin. Of course, the premise here is that the teachings of your parents are instruction in the commandments of God. Parents are to teach what those commandments are; they are to teach the reasons for following the commandments and the wisdom of these laws. They are to model obedience. They are to teach from their own experience the blessings of obeying the commands and the pain of disobeying them. Parents are to discipline and reprove their children upon disobedience, and they are to encourage and praise their children when they obey.

The result is that as the children mature, they recognize the wisdom of their parents' teaching and will obey out of that trust. They also are taught how to discern and use discretion; thus, they gain the ability to spot sin and avoid it. They learn from their parents not merely to obey the law, but to love God's commands, so that they do not think they are choosing between pleasure and obedience. They know the greater pleasure lies in obedience.

Parents, are you teaching your children commands and teachings that are worthy of binding them on your children's hearts and around their necks? Are your teachings a lamp leading along the way of life? The "evil woman" will be using all her wiles to lead them astray. What are you giving them now to preserve them?

Give them the righteous commands of the law. But give them the Gospel day after day after day. The law alone will only set up their fall. It is the Gospel that will be the shining lamp leading them through life's perils. Show them Christ and how to keep their eyes upon him.