“Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.” -Proverbs 7:25-26
A good summarization for the seventh chapter of Proverbs is “Don’t get into bed with sin!” Now that may seem humorous to some, however, it is a grave warning from an individual who knew from experience.
Often times it can be easy for one to overlook this crucial chapter of Scripture with the thought “you know, I really don’t struggle with sexual sin.” Or perhaps, “I have never been tempted to go to bed with a harlot”, “I am not enticed by this kind of sin”, and even, “I have never considered adultery.” If those are your thoughts on this text, let me first congratulate you. It is wonderful that you have walked in your authority over this kind of sin. Yet in this brief devotional, I want to show you that Solomon wasn’t so much as concerned about the kind of sin as he was the mind of sin. In other words, the basic intent of this text is to show how sin operates and plots in order to get you where it wants you so that it can eventually destroy you.
Hebrews 3:13 says, “lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Here the writer is quick to point out that sin is smart. In fact, it is so smart that it can actually deceive a Christian into falling into the trap that it has set. Notice what it says in Romans 12:21, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Here the idea is a solider of Christ getting entangled into one of the enemy’s elaborate schemes (2 Cor. 2:11) designed by hellish forces to steal his freedom as a citizen of the Kingdom of God and retard his growth as a child of Christ.
Proverbs chapter seven comes from the mind of God to shed light on some of the enemy’s tactics that he uses in his scheming so that we might recognize the ambush when it is set against us. Notice the tactics of sin (portrayed as a woman):
1. Flattereth with her words (v.5)- these flattering words are often presented to us a justifying of something that we know with definitiveness is wrong.
2. The attire of a harlot (v.10)- here is an original concept. Sin is ugly and will never come without a disguise.
3. Subtle of heart (v.10)- the original Hebrew says, “hidden of heart.” Sin blinds us with outward beauty so that it can hide its inward intention: our complete destruction.
4. She caught him (v.13)- the trap was a success. Using subtleness and beauty she was able to lure a mighty man into her lap. And when he was in her lap she kissed him and pampered him so that he would begin to like the feeling of sin (v.13-21). When we become comfortable and unarmed around sin, it will rip off its attire and show us its true nature.
5. A dart strike through his liver…and knoweth not that it is for his life (v.23)- sin the seductress waits for us to fall asleep, at ease in her presence before she carries out her actual intent. With a swift blow the once mighty man is struck down. Armies of thousands could not defeat him. The greatest of all weapons weren’t enough to overcome his strength. Yet the harlot of sin knew that the only way to overcome a man of war was to approach him softly and gently. Instead of using war (as all the other foes) she used the opposite: intimacy. And when he let his guard down and grew vulnerable in her lap, he never woke up so that Paul could be proven correct when he said, “the reward of sin is death.”
The problem all began in v.7. It says that this man was “void of understanding.” He may have been mighty (v.26) but he wasn’t able to recognize an undercover attack from the enemy. In Ephesians 1:17-23 Paul prays for all the soldiers of the army of God, that they may operate under the “spirit of wisdom and revelation.” The Holy Spirit is not given for just the purpose of unlocking the Scriptures to us. He is also given to expose the traps of Satan. Jesus says, “he will guide you into all truth…and he will show you things to come” (Jn. 16:13). Had the man in Proverbs seven invited the Spirit of God to lead and direct his path he would have heard the witness of the Spirit saying, FLEE! BAD NEWS! DEATH AHEAD! DONT GO HOME WITH HER! DONT GET INTO THE BED OF SIN!
Today, I invite you to welcome the gentle Holy Spirit to guide and steer you in all of your doings. When he gives you a witness in your heart, know that he is doing it because the thing in front of you will eventually lead to your demise. God wants you to win. He loves you and causes you to triumph (2 Cor. 2:14). When you hear him guiding you today, be sure to follow. It will only lead to an abundant life (Jn. 10:10)!
Prayer:
“Father, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, I thank you that sin shall not have dominion over me (Rom. 6:14). I declare that all the weak elements of this world are under my feet, and that includes sin. I am a watchful and ready soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ and surrendered to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I shall not give place to the devil in an area, including my flesh, which now belongs to you. I live to serve and please you, my Father, and will deny every enticement of the wicked one that will eventually lead to death. I thank you for a great day of victory that awaits me today, full of the liberty and freedom of being a redeemed child of the Living God. IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!”
