The Proverbs :: A Guidebook for MenSample

Are you paying attention?

Perhaps the question is familiar. Maybe you’re prone to daydreaming or even zoning out in the middle of a conversation. A lapse in focus can usually be harmless, but in the wrong circumstance, even a momentary failure to see what is happening can be disastrous.

The ‘woman’ pictured in Proverbs 7 represents the temptation of lust, which, of course, manifests itself in more than just adultery. Solomon mentions the roaming adulteress because it was most likely the taboo, relatable example of the day. In our day, you will most likely find this temptation luring online or through a co-worker before you’d ever come across a modern-day Delilah.

The author, in a poetic fashion, describes the process of pursuing what is initially enticing as a lethal trap. It may be why, later on in Scripture, the author of James writes, “But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.” (Jas. 1:14-16).

Translation: sin, especially sexual sin, feels exciting to our flesh at the outset and can be overpowering if we are not focused on its eventual result: death.

Ben Stuart calls it “paddling downstream.” If you are at the outset of sexual sin, the place where you can feel the temptation gaining ground in your mind, allow your mind to take you past the momentary pleasure to the eventual outcome. There, you’ll see the shame and guilt we’ve all experienced after such a lapse in judgment. When you do, you can harness that realization to stop you from resisting temptation in the first place.

Healthy desires may lead you to fantasize, but each of us has to be on guard against allowing that fantasy to lead us to do something we will regret. While they are alluring and convincing, there is only shame and frustration after the fact.

So often, we have been told that sexual sin is unavoidable as men, but that is not the way of God. Equip yourself by memorizing His truth, surrounding yourself with godly men, and preparing yourself in advance. The best defense, in this case, is an offense. If you are on His path, you will not be on sin’s path. Live so aggressively for the Kingdom that your defenses never take a hit. Do not let your heart turn to ‘her ways.’ Notice that it is a matter of allowing and that the ways are plural. There is more than one way to destruction, but they all begin with the belief in the lie, “It’s worth it.”

—

Father, keep us from the path that leads to death. Use the men in our lives to keep us on course. Use Your Word to remind us of what is good. And may we be so intensely passionate about Your mission that we see worldly pleasures as trivial and sin as an undesirable distraction. Amen.