John Burnett:
7 Now
then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house, Men do this all the time. They see how close they can get before they think they are stepping over the line. Problem is most of the time they do step over the line in their thought life and even messing with temptation is a sin because God commands us to flee temptation.
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity[a] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble
in the assembly of God’s people.” This is so true today but people do not realize how much trouble they are in.
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house, Men do this all the time. They see how close they can get before they think they are stepping over the line. Problem is most of the time they do step over the line in their thought life and even messing with temptation is a sin because God commands us to flee temptation.
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity[a] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble
in the assembly of God’s people.” This is so true today but people do not realize how much trouble they are in.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Mike
Grimm: 7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house, Stay away from evil women like this. Don't even go near her house. She will bring nothing but disappointment. Stay honorable. If you were to get involved with her, you would lead an unhappy life.
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity to one who is cruel, There is no lasting happiness to be found with this type of woman. This is speaking of spending hard earned money on a prostitute and then getting some terrible disease in the process. Right now, people are dying everywhere from diseases caused by adultery. In many cases, there is no cure. Why risk playing “AIDS Roulette?”
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.
do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house, Stay away from evil women like this. Don't even go near her house. She will bring nothing but disappointment. Stay honorable. If you were to get involved with her, you would lead an unhappy life.
9 lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity to one who is cruel, There is no lasting happiness to be found with this type of woman. This is speaking of spending hard earned money on a prostitute and then getting some terrible disease in the process. Right now, people are dying everywhere from diseases caused by adultery. In many cases, there is no cure. Why risk playing “AIDS Roulette?”
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.
11 At the end of your
life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors. At the end of our lives it will be too late to ask for advice. When desire is fully activated people don’t want advice—they want satisfaction. The best time to learn the dangers and foolishness of going after forbidden sex (or any other form of sin) is long before the temptation comes. We must act on what God wants and not what our heart feels. Resistance is easier if the decision has already been made. We can’t wait to see what happens. We must prepare for temptation by deciding now how we will respond when we face it.
when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors. At the end of our lives it will be too late to ask for advice. When desire is fully activated people don’t want advice—they want satisfaction. The best time to learn the dangers and foolishness of going after forbidden sex (or any other form of sin) is long before the temptation comes. We must act on what God wants and not what our heart feels. Resistance is easier if the decision has already been made. We can’t wait to see what happens. We must prepare for temptation by deciding now how we will respond when we face it.
14 And I was soon in
serious trouble
in the assembly of God’s people.”
in the assembly of God’s people.”
Along
the path that leads to death there are many pitfalls for the person who becomes
entangled with the strange woman. Verse 9 warns that the son’s strength will be
given to strangers. Derek Kidner, in his book Proverbs (p.70) puts it very
pointedly when he writes, "loose living…dissipates irrevocably the powers
a man has been given to invest. He will wake up to find that he has been
exploited by his chosen circle, with whom he had no real ties (9, 10),
condemned by his conscience (11-13), and on the brink of public ruin
(14)." One only has so much strength and time, only so much energy and
passion, and it is tragic to pour out those precious resources on relationships
that are temporary. Whether the son is entangled with the temple prostitute or
the idolatrous wife he has no hope of the kind of covenant relationship God
designed for him. When one comes to the realization that all his life’s energy
has been poured into an eternally empty relationship nothing but bitterness can
result. But that bitterness can only be directed against yourself because you
are the one who makes the choices.
Pursuit
of the strange woman not only risks devastating disease; it also undercuts
one’s ability to enter wholesome and faithful relationships. The deception and
disobedience wrapped up in making impurity look presentable is a cancer that
destroys one’s ability to make the honest and vulnerable commitments that
sustain a Christian marriage. One is left with only self-accusation, "I
hated discipline. I would not obey. I refused to listen."
____________________________________________________________________________________
Tomorrow’s reading for Proverbs
5:15-23
15 Drink
water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
21 For
your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
the cords of their sins hold them fast.
23 For lack of discipline they will die,
led astray by their own great folly.
and he examines all your paths.
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
the cords of their sins hold them fast.
23 For lack of discipline they will die,
led astray by their own great folly.
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