The Right Path

DEVOTION
PROVERBS
THE RIGHT PATH
Prov 6:20-29
20 My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching. 21 Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. 22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. 23 For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, 24 keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife. 25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, 26 for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29 So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
NIV
For surely this is speaking about the act of adultery, even within the heart, if not in the physical. As true as it is that the number of women who offered themselves was so many they had reduced their price to that of a loaf of bread and they would prey on the basic nature of every man, I think this also speaks to a far deeper idea which I have written about before. But as God keeps repeating the same theme, I have to deal with the same theme, and that is so I get it. There is no question, that even the most devote believing man can fall prey to the seductive powers of women. The luring looks and suggestive words can tempt a man no matter his resolve. If any man says different, he deceives himself and calls God a liar. Surely I must keep my heart from such desires, and focus on God, his commands, his teachings and bind them on my heart instead of my own desires. But I also think this can speak to the whole of the world. Being the bride of Christ I cannot allow myself to commit adultery with the world. I cannot carry on an affair with the ways of the world while being the bride of Christ. Surely if I do it will cost me. How could I carry on, conduct business the world’s way, be seduced by the monetary system, live according to the social structure and behave according to the moral standards of the world while professing my love for God? Truly if I allow myself to be seduced by the world, I will get burned, I will not enter into my Fathers rest, but will experience a burn I dare not mention. I cannot even ride the fence on this one, either I pitch my tent in the camp of God or in the camp of the world; I cannot have it both ways. I cannot sleep in both places at the same time. If I accept the principles of the world, I have been seduced into thinking her way is alright. She paints herself up to lure me; she speaks smooth words to tempt me into desiring her pleasures, all the while knowing if I submit I will surely burn myself, I will die a slow and painful death, having my very life drained from my being. I need only keep my feet on the right path, and keep my heart on his path and his alone.