Tag: Temptation

Hooded figure facing a digital city labeled POWER, PLEASURE, WEALTH, and KNOWLEDGE

A Path that Never Ends Well

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“At the window of my house I looked through my lattice. I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking sense. Crossing the street near her corner, he strolled down the road to her house at twilight, in the evening, in the dark of the night. A woman came to meet him dressed like a prostitute, having a hidden agenda. . .She seduces him with her persistent pleading; she lures with her flattering talk. He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird darting into a snare—he doesn’t know it will cost him his life. Now, sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words from my mouth. Don’t let your heart turn aside to her ways; don’t stray onto her paths. For she has brought many down to death; her victims are countless. Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.” (Proverbs‬ ‭7‬:‭6‬-‭10‬, ‭21‬-‭27‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

The Internet changed pornography forever. It made not only incredibly easily available, but it made it anonymous. Used to you had to go somewhere disreputable in order to gain access, risking being seen and outed for what you were doing. Now you have access to it anywhere at anytime. Solomon couldn’t have imagined the world we live in. But just because he couldn’t have imagined it doesn’t make his wisdom any less sound. In fact, it makes his warnings against getting involved with anything related to it all the more important to heed. Let’s take a look at his longest reflection on it.

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Woman holding books while a masked guest offers a goblet in a library

Are You Paying Attention Yet?

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“My son, obey my words, and treasure my commands. Keep my commands and live, and guard my instructions as you would the pupil of your eye. Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your relative. She will keep you from a forbidden woman, a wayward woman with her flattering talk.” (Proverbs‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

With three chapters now left in this opening section of Proverbs, one of the themes we have seen over and over again is this strong exhortation for the reader to heed the counsel and command of the writer; for the son to heed his father. Inasmuch as this is Solomon writing to his own children, though, we can receive all of this as our heavenly Father’s attempt to pass along His divine wisdom to us. So then, how can we actually receive His wisdom? Let’s talk about some ways.

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Older man placing hand on younger man's shoulder while walking on city street at night

Dancing on Hot Coals Will Burn Your Feet

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“They will protect you from an evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman. Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyelashes. For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man goes after a precious life. Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? Can a man walk on burning coals without scorching his feet? So it is with the one who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. People don’t despise the thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry. Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much; he must give up all the wealth in his house. The one who commits adultery lacks sense; whoever does so destroys himself. He will get a beating and dishonor, and his disgrace will never be removed. For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will not be appeased by anything or be persuaded by lavish bribes.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬-‭35‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Our culture is pretty approving of sex in just about any circumstance. Relationships today are just assumed to involve physical intimacy. No one even imagines two people being in a relationship and not having sex. There is one situation, however, that in spite of our actively liberalizing views and tolerances on the subject, we still largely do not support. This is the case even in spite of a determined effort by some parts of our culture to normalize it. I’m talking about cheating. That doesn’t mean it isn’t still terribly common, but we don’t like it. Ingrained godly wisdom helps to explain why. Let’s talk about it.

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A cloaked figure stands at a signpost pointing to paths labeled Light and Dark Temptation under contrasting skies

Choosing the Right Path

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“So now, sons, listen to me, and don’t turn away from the words from my mouth. Keep your way far from her. Don’t go near the door of her house. Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel; strangers will drain your resources, and your hard-earned pay will end up in a foreigner’s house. At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, and you will say, ‘How I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction. I didn’t obey my teachers or listen closely to my instructors. I am on the verge of complete ruin before the entire community.’” (Proverbs‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬-‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

When I was in college I read a book that profoundly shaped my understanding of sin. It’s called The Smell of Sin and the Fresh Air of Grace, by Don Everts. In the book he talked about several of the false ways that sin presents itself in order to capture our attention and devotion. One of those is that sin is enjoyable. Sin is often seductive. It is alluring. It draws us in with promises to satisfy all of our wants and desires. And as much as that is a lie of the highest order, we fall for it over and over and over again. If we buy those lines we will soon discover the trap we have fallen into. Let’s reflect on this with Solomon as he continues his warning against buying into sin’s seductions here.

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Young man standing at a rural crossroads with hooded figures pointing at him

Avoiding a Dangerous Road

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“My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded. If they say—“Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun! Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, whole, like those who go down to the Pit. We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share the loot”—my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path, because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood. It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it, but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives. Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.” (Proverbs 1:10-19 CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things the Scriptures are pretty clear that we shouldn’t mess around with is temptation. We sometimes imagine that resisting temptation is like a muscle. The more we do it, the stronger our ability to resist it gets. I’m not so sure, and the authors of the Scriptures (who were inspired by God) seem to agree. The apostle Paul doesn’t tell us to resist temptation or fight against it, he tells us to flee from it. Run away. Do not engage. Don’t test it to see how long you can hold out. Hightail it in the other direction. That doesn’t make you a coward, it makes you wise. How do I know? Because the very first bit of wise counsel we are given in Proverbs has to do with staying away from temptation. Let’s take a look.

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