God Speaks
Follow my advice, my son;
always treasure my commands.
2 Obey my commands and live!
Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.
3 Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.
4 Love wisdom like a sister;
make insight a beloved member of your family.
5 Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,
from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.
6 While I was at the window of my house,
looking through the curtain,
7 I saw some naive young men,
and one in particular who lacked common sense.
8 He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman,
strolling down the path by her house.
9 It was at twilight, in the evening,
as deep darkness fell.
10 The woman approached him,
seductively dressed and sly of heart.
11 She was the brash, rebellious type,
never content to stay at home.
12 She is often in the streets and markets,
soliciting at every corner.
13 She threw her arms around him and kissed him,
and with a brazen look she said,
14 “I’ve just made my peace offerings
and fulfilled my vows.
15 You’re the one I was looking for!
I came out to find you, and here you are!
16 My bed is spread with beautiful blankets,
with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
17 I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning.
Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,
19 for my husband is not home.
He’s away on a long trip.
20 He has taken a wallet full of money with him
and won’t return until later this month.”
21 So she seduced him with her pretty speech
and enticed him with her flattery.
22 He followed her at once,
like an ox going to the slaughter.
He was like a stag caught in a trap,
23 awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart.
He was like a bird flying into a snare,
little knowing it would cost him his life.
24 So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.
25 Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.
26 For she has been the ruin of many;
many men have been her victims.
27 Her house is the road to the grave.
Her bedroom is the den of death.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding each Proverbs 7:
1. What does this chapter tell me about God?
2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
1. God does not want His children to be led into sin. He forewarns those who will listen and pay attention.
2. People, especially the young, are often naïve, easily deceived, and led into destructive situations.
Prayer
3. How might I pray regarding Proverbs 7?
Dear LORD God who teaches His children wisdom and showers us with grace, thank You. How I treasure Your commands. You enrich my life as I obey them. They are as precious to me as my eyes and fingers or as my family members. I secure them in my heart. They protect me from being led astray by an immoral woman or a flirtatious man. In Proverbs 7:6-27, You give a vivid example of how this kind of baiting could happen. Please help me follow Your loving instructions and be alert to such schemes. The woman made several statements and acted in ways that should have set off alarm buzzers if the young man had been paying attention to Your commands. The biggest was that she was married. If he had only remembered Your instruction not to commit adultery and walked away, he could have saved himself much grief. Holy Spirit, please bring relevant scriptures to mind when I am in similar situations and help me to act on them. Please don’t let me go down a path that leads to destruction and death. May I heed Your word and bring You glory, LORD. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Proverbs 7?
- I will warn the children I am responsible to about the dangers of social media and the internet.
- I will monitor myself, my spouse, and the children I am responsible to as to what I (we) watch, listen to, or participate in.
- I will fill my (and our) mind(s) with scripture, pondering the things of God, prayer for self and others, and God-directed activities to actually help others.
- I will memorize Philippians 4: 8-9 (in NLT) so that I have a standard by which to judge what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. I will put what I learn into practice.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.