Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 08-02-2023

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, frijoles and salsa!

To deliver you from the strange woman,
From the adulteress who flatters with her words;
That leaves the companion of her youth
And forgets the covenant of her God;
Proverbs 2:16-17, NASB

This section of Proverbs speaks to the impressionable young Solomon, letting him know what is out there to get him if he DOESN’T WATCH OUT(!).
It was effective counsel; we have ZERO evidence that he ever experienced ANY problems with an adulteress. 
Solomon’s problems also came from a more proper and respectable source: he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. For your standard Iron Age king, that was just good diplomacy; however, Solomon had been specifically forbidden association with foreign women. His disobedience provoked God to tear the kingdom away from his son. Would there have been a worse outcome without the warning against adulterous women?

Were future adulterous women warned about ME? I say that, because I never encountered one. My closest brush was with a flirty mom who taught Vacation Bible School with me in 1973. Could SOMETHING or SOMEONE have been warning them away?
It’s not that I never had a problem arising from my interactions with women; just that none of the women I had problems with were adulteresses. My worst problems were with moral church-attending ladies, who all eventually developed a profound distaste for me. Go figure. 

It’s tempting (and VILE) to blame my mistakes on my accomplice; calling them names makes that easier. It also discourages repentance; if it’s the adulteress’ fault, why do I need to repent?
I’m hearing a LOT of name-calling these days. Who does that bless, I wonder?

Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. On Christ the Solid Rock I StandAugust 7, 2023 at 7:21 AM

    That's a wonderful conclusion and a good warning my Brother Pat, "Watch Out"

    ReplyDelete

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