July 7, 2008

Today's Reading - Proverbs 7
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Following Scripture Verses

1. My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
3. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
4. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
5. That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
6. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
7. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8. Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
9. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
10. And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
11. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
12. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
13. So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
14. I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
15. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
17. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
19. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
20. He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
21. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
22. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
23. Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
24. Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
27. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

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"Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner." - Proverbs 7:12

In the midst of this passage dealing with an immoral woman we read that she was lying in wait at every corner. Her goal was to find the young man, seduce him, and lead him into a sinful relationship that he really did not want to be involved in (7:21). As I read this I can not help but see that this principle applies not only to this individual woman, but to sin in general, and we need to be aware of it.

Satan desires to take us away from the Lord. Though he can not rob a believer of his salvation, he certainly can lead the Christian to do those things which would render him ineffective in his service to God. Thus the Christian needs to be on constant guard against the wiles of the Devil (Eph. 6:11). Opportunities to transgress are everywhere. The wicked one will place various temptations in numerous places so that we have a greater chance of surrendering to them. When we overcome one temptation we can rejoice in the Lord, but we need to be careful not to get filled with pride, for the next corner holds yet another enemy that we will need to conquer.

The believer also needs to be careful not to think that he is somehow above committing a certain kind of sin. The young man in this passage put himself in the area of temptation, but he did not intend to get involved in it. However, after being constantly confronted with the availability of iniquity, he surrendered to it. Those of us who are saved need to be walking with the Lord all the time. We need to be led by the Spirit and have our minds filled with the Word of God so that we can withstand the perpetual onslaughts of temptation that Satan throws at us.

Sin is everywhere. We need to be prepared to overcome it.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery