1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
listen well to my words of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave. [a]
6 She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
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,
9 lest you give your best strength to others
and your years to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich another man's house.
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 listen to my instructors.
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin
in the midst of the whole assembly."
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 captivated by her love.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?
21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all his paths.
22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast.
23 He will die for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.
May 20Th, 2008 - Strict warning is given about straying from your wife. Temptation is sweet. So is antifreeze. And you know how deadly that is. But as it says, in the end, its bitter as gall. If you have ever cheated, you may have felt this bitterness as soon as the transgression took place. That awful feeling of guilt. It begins gnawing at you. You think about things on that ride home from where ever you shouldn't have been. Also, this temptation is sharp like a double edge sword. This tells me it's a bad situation from all angles. Any way you try to "grasp" or rationalize, you will get cut.
Verse 22 mentions the cords that can ensnare us. Have you ever felt that way? You feel as if you are struggling with sin and it keeps getting tighter and tighter. And it will if you do not confess to God your sin. Verse 21 says that man's way are in full view of the Lord. He already knows, you can not hide it. Loosen those cords and free yourself. That's the only way to move on. We all have sinned, that's no surprise but the true sin is not confessing it and moving on. Learning from it and walking stronger with the Lord for the future.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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