The Meaning is Clear

I've been reading from the Proverbs almost daily for about twenty years. When I was a teenager, someone pointed out to me that there were 31 chapters in Proverbs, and 30 or 31 days in most months. If you read a chapter a day, you can read Proverbs through in a month. So that is part of my daily regimen. (Someone later pointed out that if you read 5 Psalms a day, you could read the Psalms through in a month, so I added that to my routine as well. Add 4 chapters a day from anywhere in the Bible and you can read the whole Bible through in a year with some days left over).

But I have specifically commited myself to reading a chapter of Proverbs everyday. "Why?" you might ask, and I'm so glad you did, because I'm going to tell you. Proverbs is a book of special wisdom that deals with every aspect of practical daily living. God, marriage, business, children, relationships, ethics, morality--it's all in there. And the wisdom is directed especially at young men who have a lot to learn. Since I'm still learning, I consider myself a young man, so I keep reading the Proverbs.

Take today for instance. It's February 5th, so I'll be in Proverbs 5, and I've been reading them long enough to know what is in Proverbs 5. It's actually one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures (right up there with all the rest of them). Proverbs 5 is about commitment and faithfulness to one woman for life in the covenant of marriage.

Here are some nuggets, presented to you from the CLS paraphrase version of the Bible.

Don't go after a woman just because she's a good kisser. Kisses are sweet and smooth, but the kisses of the wrong woman can kill you, and then it won't matter how good her kisses were.

Don't go after a woman just because she offers you a moment of pleasure. Looking for satisfaction and fulfillment outside the bounds of marriage is like spilling precious water in the street.

Don't go after a woman who is not your wife. Every man's needs can be and should be satisfied and fulfilled only by the attributes given to his wife by God.

Don't go after a woman because her hugs feel good. Those hugs can be deceptive, resulting in a lifetime of slavery.

Proverbs 5:21-23

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord,

and He ponders all his paths.

A man's own iniquities entrap the wicked man,

and he is caught in the cords of his sin.

He shall die for lack of instruction,

and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.