She grabs you, seduces you, reaches for you in the dark streets. She is the prostitute of Proverbs.
But she could be anything. She represents my habitual sin, my vice, my idol, my addiction, my temptation, my desires. None of us like to think of ourselves as the foolish one who falls for the temptress. The truth is, we have all been unfaithful to God in some way.
Proverbs 7 talks again about the adulterous woman. It is obviously some pretty serious stuff. But I find myself easily reading this passage because I think it doesn’t pertain to me. And pridefully I was just going to sum it up quickly and move on, since I have studied the adulterous woman in the past. But I can’t.
Proverbs 7 reminds me that sin doesn’t just happen. Temptation doesn’t just happen. The enemy is cunning, conniving, sneaky, but he isn’t the only player.
There’s Wisdom and there's me.
I am just like the young man who, according to these verses, lacks good sense. I walk through life thinking the entrapments of the enemy won’t ensnare me. I don’t watch where I am headed and more times than I want to admit, I fall into the same trap over and over.
Think about the sin you struggle with the most. Isn’t that the truth? We fall over and over because we aren’t paying attention to what gets us there in the first place.
But then there is Wisdom. Wisdom is alert and discerning. Wisdom is watching, noticing and taking notes. Wisdom is careful. Wisdom remembers the things they were taught by people even more wise than they are. Wisdom is not tricked into following the prostitute because Wisdom isn’t even on the same path as the prostitute. Wisdom walks with others who are also wise. There’s no room for the foolish.
Friends, do we really want to defeat the enemy? Do we really want wisdom? I wonder. As I watch my country in turmoil, I have to wonder if anyone really wants wisdom anymore? So many things could be avoided if we just lived under the protection of the principles of Proverbs.
Wisdom = God= The Word of God
We need God and His Word. We need Wisdom.