In today’s devotion, Solomon returns to his oft-repeated warning to the man who entertains immoral thoughts and trifles with sexual lusts. Notice in Proverbs 7:6-10 the moral calamity of a wayward man.
Proverbs 7:6-10 – “For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.”
Rather than guarding his heart and filling his mind with virtuous thoughts (Philippians 4:8), the young man in today’s proverbs is a companion to the “simple ones”—those who lack good sense to steer far from the path of sin. He is a companion of other likeminded fools whose company erodes the virtues instilled in him by his parents (1 Corinthians 15:33).
The harsh reality of our day is the epidemic of men and women who fill their minds with a daily diet of pornographic images. Like the fool in today’s proverbs, they surf the web and open their hearts to the beguiling ways of the adulterer and adulteress.
Notice the depiction of the adulteress in our passage. She is sly and cunning, “subtil of heart” (7:10). She is provocative in her dress (7:10). As a dumb beast is led away to the slaughter (7:22), the simple man follows his lust until it demands everything—his wife, family and good name (7:23).
Someone reading today’s devotional may be on that ruinous path. You have titillated your lusts in the privacy of your home and convinced yourself no one will know. You are hiding your sin from a spouse or a parent, confident your sinful lusts are not so bad. Are you so foolish to think your sin will not be found out (Numbers 32:23)?
God knows your private sins and the very thoughts of your heart and He warns: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)
I challenge you—“Flee also youthful lusts” before it is too late and all is lost! (2 Timothy 2:22)
Copyright 2015 – Travis D. Smith