Proverbs 7:4-5. 4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend, 5to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.
Maybe more than any other sin, the Proverbs address the sexual sin of adultery. Solomon, the wisest of men, Samson, the strongest of men, and David the godliest of men, all fell victim to their sexual desires. It’s hard enough for all of us, male or female, to resist our own sexual desires and fantasies without the forbidden woman or man speaking their smooth words to us.
What follows in Proverbs 7:6-23 is a tale of great tragedy as the naïve, and senseless young man wanders into “the wrong place at the wrong time” and is seduced by the forbidden woman, who lives without scruples. Her husband is away, and she will do what she wants in his absence. She will use lies and flattery to capture his heart. She will use her sensuality to capture his mind. She will force herself upon him to capture his body. In the end he is just like an ox led to slaughter (7:22).
Lest we move on too quickly because we don’t struggle with sexual sin, much less adultery, we must ask, can this vivid description of the adulteress also be a metaphor for all sin and temptation? Might sin itself be the forbidden woman who seeks to steal our hearts away from our first love? If not sexual sin, what sin does flatter you? Seduce you? Comfort you?
What saves us from intimacy with sin? Intimacy with wisdom – Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend. The only hope for avoiding sin in our lives is to be so close to sin’s opposite that we are far less likely to be seduced. Every heart seeks intimacy. The loneliness epidemic is the symptom of our society’s lack of meaningful relationships. Why are we so sexually frustrated and sexually promiscuous at the same time? What are we really chasing?
The Corinthian argument that sex is just for the body was debunked by Paul and continues to be debunked by the countless broken hearts that have fallen victim to the lie that “it’s just sex.” But sin is never just a bodily action. The heart and mind were always there driving the action forward. And it is the heart and mind, the soul, that will be damaged if we don’t find the way of escape that Christ offers with each temptation.
You see Christ is our intimate friend. By the Spirit, Jesus is as close to us as the closest sister. Wisdom and insight aren’t just concepts for those who are in Christ, they are a person. The person of Jesus who is seducing us with his whole-hearted love for us. A love that would never use us for his own pleasure, but that frees us to find pleasure in his love.
You: What sin regularly seduces you?
You in Christ: How does knowing God’s unconditional love for you in Christ seduce your heart away from sin?
Christ in you: Are you spending time with Christ, both planned and unplanned? Are you letting him into your heart as an intimate friend?
Pray: Jesus, keep me from the forbidden woman of sin with your steadfast love and faithfulness. Amen.
To Live is Christ 