Today we glean some more wisdom from the book of Proverbs. Here are a few thoughts from Proverbs 7 in the Message Bible.
Dear friend, do what I tell you; treasure my careful instructions. Do what I say and you'll live well. My teaching is as precious as your eyesight – guard it! Write it out on the back of your hands; etch it on the chambers of your heart. Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion. They'll be with you to fend off the Temptress– that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.
Make sure you value instruction and the words of wisdom. Remember them and put them in practice in your daily life.
Watch out for the Temptress – that smooth talking, honey tongued Seductress. Every young person (and older person), is vulnerable, so get your guard up and have your early warning system activated.
As I stood at the window of my house looking out through the shutters, watching the mindless crowd stroll by, I spotted a young man without any sense arriving at the corner of the street where she lived, then turning up the path to her house. It was dusk, the evening coming on, the darkness thickening into night. Just then, a woman met him – she'd been lying in wait for him, dressed to seduce him. Brazen and brash she was, restless and roaming, never at home, walking the streets, loitering in the mall, hanging out at every corner in town. She threw her arms around him and kissed him, boldly took his arm and said, "I've got all the makings for a feast – today I made my offerings, my vows are all paid, So now I've come to find you, hoping to catch sight of your face – and here you are! I've spread fresh, clean sheets on my bed, colorful imported linens. My bed is aromatic with spices and exotic fragrances. Come, let's make love all night, spend the night in ecstatic lovemaking! My husband's not home; he's away on business, and he won't be back for a month."
Lessons:
- Don’t be without sense.
- Don’t go near the house where seduction lives. Avoid all forms of sexual temptation.
- If you happen to go by there, don’t turn up the path to their house. If you bump into some temptation, turn and run away quickly.
- At night time you are most vulnerable.
Soon she has him eating out of her hand, bewitched by her honeyed speech. Before you know it, he's trotting behind her, like a calf led to the butcher shop, like a stag lured into ambush and then shot with an arrow, like a bird flying into a net not knowing that its flying life is over.
Lessons:
- Seduction is bewitching. Once you even stop to listen you’ll easily be sucked in.
- Before you know it you’ll be heading off down the slippery slide to sin.
- It may feel good for a moment, but in the end you’ll suffer for it. You’ve been lured and trapped.
So, friends, listen to me, take these words of mine most seriously. Don't fool around with a woman like that; don't even stroll through her neighborhood. Countless victims come under her spell; she's the death of many a poor man. She runs a halfway house to hell, fits you out with a shroud and a coffin.
Lessons:
- This is serious so listen carefully.
- Don’t mess with seductive people. Don’t even go near where they are or be lured to just have a look.
My how every person, including myself, needs to hear the warnings of wisdom.
Proverbs tells us to be on guard against seductive people. Don’t be lured by their spell into their trap. If you do, you’ll pay for it.