Proverbs 7 -- Like An Ox Led To Slaughter, So WE Can Be

Solomon makes sure that his sons understand just how a prostitute (or any promiscuous girl) drums up business so that they'll be able to avoid her temptations.  The young man's first mistake is in coming to the part of town where she operates, and his second mistake is not running away quickly when he sees where he is.  My commentary says, "The awful moment of danger approaches when the temptation to sin and the opportunity to sin COINCIDE.  We should pray constantly that these two should never come together in our lives."  Just like the woman, sin is always right out there, easy to find and waiting on us. 

The woman uses the young man's pride against him, first shocking him with her intense interest in him, then claiming to have sincere interest in religion (despite her obvious sinful activity) to disarm him.  She then tells him he's the one she's been waiting for, when she would have taken the first man that came along.  "She appeals to his sensual nature, and the more she talks, the more his resistance melts.  With a little more flattery, she causes him to yield," my commentary said.

Max Lucado, from my sidebar today, describes just how the world today tries to hook us into sin.  He writes of looking around his hotel room:  There are no voices encouraging him to remain strong.  On the nightstand is an advertisement for the hotel's lounge inviting him to "make new friends in a relaxing atmosphere."  There's another on top of the TV promising that the adult channels will "make his fantasies come true."  The phone book contains columns of escort services offering "love away from home."  And the topic of the TV talk show is "How To Succeed At Sex In The Office."

When we're away from home, Satan screams out to us that "no one will ever know!"  Sin City itself picked up on this with their now familiar tag line:  "What Happens In Vegas STAYS In Vegas."  But early on, God showed me that the real test of a man's character is what he would do if he knew that he would never be found out.  Yet so often it is tempting to let our pride tell us that we can easily turn off the temptation before it goes too far.  And like the young man in this story, the point of no return is reached before the alarm bells sound:  "All at once, he followed her, like an ox led to the butcher."

Father, yesterday I read that it is never too late to say no, but when our human minds are awash in the potent cocktail of testosterone and endorphins produced by the likelihood of a sexual encounter, we often lose the ability to say no.  Your word today about avoiding opportunities to sin is right on.  Help me to do what verses 1-4 say:  To remember and treasure and obey Your commands, to guard Your teachings, and to remind myself of them often.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford