Day 126: Playing with fire - Proverbs 6 vs 20 - 35

20-23 My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. Keep their words always in your heart.Tie them around your neck. When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. 24 It will keep you from the immoral woman,  from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.

25 Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. 26 For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life. 27-28 Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? 29 So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

30-31 Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. 32 But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. 33 He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. 34-35 For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size. (New Living Translation) (Link to English Standard Version)

Before there was electricity I'm sure many a child was fascinated watching moths circle a candle. It looked as if they were seeing how close they could get without being burned. Perhaps the writer of Proverbs saw something similar as he grew up as he uses some examples of fiery things in vs 27-28. But he starts this section by stressing the importance of what a good home life is meant to be like. (vs 20-23). What things can you see there that would be good for a child?

The best thing any child can have is a home where mom and dad are married, love each other, and both care enough to lovingly teach the child good things. And if their teaching comes from God's word then as the child grows into adulthood he or she will have light for the journey. Such homes provide security for a child. But notice that 'corrective discipline' is also important. Many people may go off the rails because no-one disciplined them when they were young. What was the particular danger though that the father had in mind in these verses? (vs 24).

So there’s obviously a young man in mind here, and his parents were laying foundations so that he would be faithful to his wife when he eventually married. Adultery must have been as common in those days as it is now. They warn him that adultery does more damage than prostitution. (They weren't excusing prostitution – just highlighting how serious adultery is. Vs 26-29) Apart from the shame adultery brings (vs 32-33) what was the big danger an adulterer might be exposed to in those days? (vs 26, 34-35)

That sort of thing can still happen. A jealous husband may go as far as murder. Sadly, much of what we've looked at today is no longer seen as serious or an issue in Western countries. Marriage has been cheapened and promiscuity is promoted from the media to the movies. But that doesn’t mean God's view on marriage and adultery has changed. Hebrews 13:4 says:“Give honour to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.”

One last thought. God often used the picture of marriage and adultery to describe how the people of Israel were unfaithful to Him. The New Testament also uses the picture of the Church being like the bride of Jesus. Whether we are personally married or not, if we are a Christian then we are called to be faithful to Christ. Immorality and the lusts of the world are not the path we must ever choose. Let God's word be the light by which you make all the decisions of your daily living. Look at vs 20-23 again and apply that to what God's word will do for you.