“And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her [a forbidden woman], and do not go near the door of her house.” (Proverbs 5:7-8 ESV)
Verse 9 - “lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless” - In this sinful choice you no longer honor God, your family, your Christian community, your congregation. In this choice you give of yourself to all others.
Verse 10 - “lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner” - In this sinful choice you give up your strength and everything you've lived for in the faith to things/people other than God.
Verse 11 - “and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed” - Probably not what you were hoping for when you stepped into that sin, but this is the outcome, the consequential truth.
Verse 12-13 - “and you say, 'How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.” - Here your unteachable, prideful, arrogant, defiant heart laments.
Verse 14 - “I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” Nothing more to say.
Right now you're thinking, “Hey Craig, thanks for the bleak picture!”
There is good news. :)
In Jesus, as you were chosen by Him, Paul wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 ESV)
See Jesus speaking to a woman caught in adultery, “Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.'”
Pray today that you will choose well. Pray that you willl make wise choices which honor God and your loved ones. At the same time, thank Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. Praise our Jesus in whom we find no condemnation...but salvation.
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