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Review
This is part of a series, studying the book of Proverbs during the month of July, 2011. For more details click here.
Theme
Chapter 5 is where we start to hear the sorrow of Solomon's most public transgression against God - he had relationships with too many of the wrong women. Nehemiah 13:26 states that his marriages to foreign women were sin, in direct violation of God's will for His chosen people. In fact, 1 Kings 11:2-3 shares that Solomon insisted on loving these women even though he knew that it violated God's commandments. He had 700 wives and an additional 300 concubines, all of whom he had sex with at his leisure.
This chapter is focused on sexual sin. Whether it's sex before marriage or sex inside of your marriage but with someone you aren't married to. And that goes for physical or emotional relationships. Sex with your spouse - and your spouse alone - is the only God-ordained way to enjoy the physical pleasures of intimacy (vs 15-17).
His warnings about what will happen if you participate in sexual sin are clear. You -
- Will lose your honor (vs 9)
- Will lose your money/what you have worked hard for through the years (vs 10)
- Run the risk of disease and physical agony (vs11)
- Will face public disgrace and ruin (vs14)
- Will become a slave to your sin (vs 22-23)
Run from sexual sin. It's your life to lose.
Key Verses For Me
Proverbs 5:18 - Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
Quote
Love is the great conqueror of lust. C.S. Lewis
Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without. ~ James C. Dobson
Anything worth having is worth waiting for. ~ Becky, my then girlfriend-future wife, as we began our long distance relationship right after graduating college
Related Scriptures
Ecclesiastes 9:9 - Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.
2 Timothy 2:22A Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust.
Prayer
I want to thank you, Father, for the blessing that is my wife Becky. I know we are together because of Your plan for both of us. May Your protection over our marriage continue as we grow old together.
So what verse(s) stick out to you and why?
The phrase "fountain of blessing" in verse 18 sticks out to me today. It's a beautiful image of what a godly marriage can be - a constant, moving flood of the numerous blessings God gives a husband and wife to share. Obviously, great sex is one of them :), but the blessings are so much more abundant than just that. It's like He can't bless us enough.
ReplyDeleteVerse 17
ReplyDelete"Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers". I stood in God's house over 41 years ago and made a solemn vow to God and my husband. That vow has not been broken and I am proud to say so. Sexual sin is rampant and revolting. I can't even contemplate sharing myself with someone else. Sex is a very private matter between two people. Adultery destroys a myriad of things between a couple and their family. How very sad that satin has reeled the adulterous in and provoked their minds to engage in his evil ways. They may be sinfully satisfied for a moment of pleasure or many moments of pleasure. Is it worth it not to receive God's blessing in the end? Absolutely not! I have known friends, by way of conversation through others, in which their spouse was having an affair. My dilemma is this. I feel so sorry for the one who doesn't know. Everybody knows it but the one who is being sinned against. I so want to say something but keep quiet. Should one say anything? My husband and I are ours alone. No strangers allowed. "Be sure your sins will find you out".
I've never visited you over here. This is a great idea for a blog series!
ReplyDelete@Becky - you are verse 19! :<)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 41 years Marilyn! That's so amazing these days. We you even a teenager when y'all got married?
ReplyDeleteAs to should you say anything, put yourself in your friends position. Would you want them to share?
I like your quote - "No strangers allowed". I would add no one allowed - stranger or not.
Yes, your sin will always find you out. The problem is it doesn't just destroy the offender's life - it affects so many other people.
Well i stumbled upon you today Jonathan and really appreciated your blog on Freedom today. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDelete