Earthly Pleasure Can Overtake Our Will To Do The Right Thing

Proverbs 5:21-23 -  For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.  The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.  He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

 

Solomon devotes a whole chapter to the age old practice of prostitution.  It was a huge problem in the world he lived…tempting men…ensnaring them with the strong desires of the human to be intimate….to satisfy the strong urges of our body to seek pleasure and release.  He tells the young men to who he writes….to run far from this practice.

 

My mind wants to expand Solomon’s warning to these young men…to all people who are tempted by any kind of adultery….and other practices driven by sexual desires.  These things degrade all parties involved.  They destroy families.  They make a mockery of the institution of marriage…and have been the cause of millions of divorces over the course of history.  Our society has even relaxed its stance on many practices that were once considered taboo….the internet increasing access to millions of images…..easily accessible to anyone…anywhere.

 

My Life Application Bible commentary expanded this thought even further in my mind.  It suggested that the word prostitution was used loosely…as a symbol for anything that deters our search for truth and wisdom.  The desires we allow to take root in our heart for anything that gives us earthly pleasure overtakes our will to do the right thing….like Paul says in Romans 7:18… “ I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to guard my heart for anything that seeks to replace my need for time with you.  Forgive me for the times I have allowed the world’s pleasures to keep me from doing what is right.  Help me to focus my heart completely on you….and give me wisdom to recognize the things that satan throws in my path to trick and confuse me. I pray this morning not just for me…but for the world.  Somehow….shine your light brightly in the minds of all that are involved in some form of sexual sin today.  Help them to realize that it is destroying their relationship with you and all the people around them.  Save the marriages that are affected…and repair and reinstate the ones that have been destroyed by divorce. Amen.