December 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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"Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths." - Proverbs 7:25

Solomon concludes this passage dealing with immorality with a strong warning to his son. He not only tells him not to get involved in fornication, but also tells him to stay completely away from the strange woman. I find it important to note that he first tells his son to control his heart. Since it is my heart that will lead me astray, it is imperative that I keep it under control at all times. It is easy for a man to start to think improperly about a woman. Once he has begun to think wrong, this makes it much easier for him to actually do wrong. Solomon writes that we are not to allow our hearts to "decline to her ways." The word "decline" means to turn aside. In other words, the Bible tells us not to even think about turning aside from the spiritual way in order to go into the way of fornication. If we can keep our thoughts pure, it will help us to keep our deeds pure.

He then adds that his son should not go astray in her paths. Even if his thoughts may not always be right, the young man still needs to stay away from the strange woman. Some people seem to think that once they have had impure thoughts that they might as well go ahead and commit the sin, since they have already lusted in their hearts. Solomon says that both the thoughts and the actions need to be controlled, and failure to do one does not justify failure to do the other. He also points out that to go into her path is to go astray. It is not simply the end result that is to be avoided - the path getting there must be forsaken as well.

Watch your thoughts and deeds and you won't have to worry about the end result.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery