Proverbs 5
I would offer that the word love is not a verb, it is a noun. It is not a thing you do. It is the light that you are made of and what you were created to be.
Avoid Immoral Women
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. 2 Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. 3 For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. 4 But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6 For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.
7 So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: 8 Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! 9 If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. 10 Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
11 In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. 12 You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! 13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? 14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.”
15 Drink water from your own well – share your love only with your wife. 16 Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? 17 You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.
18 Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. 20 Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?
21 For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. 22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. 23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.
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insights
Proverbs chapter 5 is a duality. It uses the obvious imagery of immoral women to speak about both immorality and the underlying cause, lack of self control.
Immoral women are attractive to a man in the same way as other evil things that may attract us, like drugs, alchohol, showing off at the wheel of a car, gambling…we all know the list, and we all have our own personal favorite poison as well. Sometimes it is so easy to do the wrong thing, and so hard to do the right thing, but we must at some point consider that our personal poison is indeed offensive to God.
Although evil ideas like immoral women can be attractive to us, what do they leave us with? Broken homes, disease, physical injury, financial loss, anguish, guilt, loss of the respect of those closest to us, spiritual death, and some-times even physical death.
Temptation is so great that Solomon warns his sons not to even go near immoral women. Solomon’s father, David, had fallen into just such temptation when from a distance he saw a beautiful young woman naked in her bath. If David had just looked away, he could have avoided much pain.
Instead he watched, then sent for her, then lay with her and impregnated her. To cover up his behavior, he arranged for the woman’s husband to be killed in battle. As a result, he lost the son of their union and his older sons fought him. David turned back to God and asked for forgiveness (Psalm 51), and God forgave him. Solomon was the second son of David’s union with Bathsheba, and no doubt felt strongly on this subject considering he came from such a dysfunctional family situation.
Time is a valuable commodity, and we must learn to use it wisely. So also is our strength. Let that time and energy be spent on what is most valuable, our spouses and children, and serving our Lord. That is where we will find love and contentment.
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus explains that anyone who hears His words and follows them, is like a man who builds his house on a foundation of stone, and those who hear His words and do not follow them are like a man who builds his house upon the sand. One will remain after the storm and the other will be swept away in it. In the same way, our emotions do not provide a sound foundation upon which to live our lives, but seeking wisdom and following God’s guidance is the strongest foundation we can choose.
lynnibug