PROVERBS 7:4-5
Love wisdom like a sister;
make insight a beloved member of your family.
Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,
from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.
(Dan and I have been independently selecting a section of each chapter in Proverbs for reflection. Neither of us knows what the other has selected until after writing our reflection. Today we happened to select the same verses. Here is a great example of how two people can take one set of words and examine it from two very different, yet complementary angles.)
Brothers and sisters
There are few relationships that rival the bond between a brother and sister. While the two of them may fight like cats and dogs, when confronted by an outside challenge they will defend each other to the death. I know it is not like this in every family, but in my family there is a strong bond between brothers and sisters.
My older sister and I are especially close. We can share our struggles and concerns with each other without feeling guilty or judged. We support each other through encouragement and accountability. There is admittedly some friendly rivalry that takes place, but when pressed, we would both stand up for the other to the death.
When my sister speaks, I listen. When she shares a concern I take it to heart. The only trouble is she lives in NC so our conversations are not as frequent as we would like.
My relationship with wisdom is much like my relationship with my sister. I listen, take to heart and respect the opinion of wisdom. Unfortunately, at times our relationship becomes distant. Instead of trying to live independently, the writer of Proverbs calls me today to move wisdom into the spare room. Let wisdom become part of everyday life. Rub shoulders with God multiple times each day.
Holy God, I desire to live in your presence each day rubbing shoulders with holy wisdom and insight. Keep me from selfishness that ignores wisdom’s whisper that I might avoid falling into sin and destruction. - Dan Jones
Good sex advice from a sexist
Okay, enough already! Four out of the last seven chapters have warned against the immoral woman. I get it. And I’m bothered.
I’m bothered because Solomon doesn’t seem to account for the possibility that the immorality lies within his son. Doesn’t it ever occur to him that his son – prince and feared authority figure – just might be the one to pressure innocent women into sex? Probably not.
So I have to practice good principles of biblical interpretation to glean God’s truth for me. First, I have to accept that God only slowly increased revelation about himself and his truth to humanity. Solomon and his “man-after-God’s-heart” father, King David, possessed a harem of wives and mistresses without God’s condemnation. Honoring women with singular loyalty and the reality that sin, including sexual sin, originates in the heart of the individual not the seductiveness of “that” woman would have to wait for Jesus and his radical insights into gender relationships.
So, second, I have to apply Solomon’s proverbs through a New Testament lens. Not only must I refuse to put myself into a situation that opens the door for a woman to tempt me sexually but, more importantly, I must guard my own heart and mind.
It’s this second part that bothers me as much as Solomon’s sexism. Most of us, including myself, need to be hammered about sexual temptation. My culture is saturated with sexual energy in which at least 25% of marriage partners give into adultery, say the polls. Newsweek reported that about 30% of male protestant pastors give in to sexual relationships with women who aren’t their spouses! (see http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/adultery.html)
I dare not fall into an arrogant mentality that concludes I don’t need four out of seven chapters warning me about sexual unfaithfulness! (Still, I’m looking forward to broadening the subject matter as I work my way through Proverbs!).
Lord God, thank you for the partial revelation you gave to Solomon and for guiding the compilers of Proverbs to include so much material warning against sexual sin. As a follower of your fullest revelation, Jesus Christ, I will use these proverbs to increase he guard of my own heart. Grant the needed wisdom that will make the second half of my marriage and career as faithful as the first half. - Mike Leamon
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