Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5:1-23

My son, be attentive to my wisdom;

 incline your ear to my understanding,

 that you may keep discretion,

and your lips may guard knowledge.

• As discussed in Proverbs 4, God repeats himself here saying “be attentive”.  When God repeats himself, pay attention because it’s highly important.  
• In this context, God is saying that we should continually pay attention to His wisdom.  The only way to do this is to return daily to His wisdom … scripture.  His Word.
• This will keep you in check.  Without doing this, your understanding of knowledge WILL be tainted – poisoned – by the unsubstantiated thinking of this world.

 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil,

 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

 sharp as a two- edged sword.

• Wow.  God is not picking on women here.  This can as easily be the smooth, good looking fella that makes a woman melt.  
• From the time of Adam and Eve we’ve had this evil in us.  We want what’s forbidden.  Like the kid that wants the thing his parents said he could not have.  We want it MORE when it’s off limits.  
• This was Satan’s downfall.  He thought he deserved to be on the same level as God.  That’s why he was cast down.
• I know I can personally speak to the allure of the forbidden fruit.  And I can now speak to the bitterness that results from partaking in what is forbidden.  

 Her feet go down to death;

her steps follow the path to Sheol;

 she does not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

• She (the forbidden fruit) will lead you down to death, in that “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  This means that sin leads to spiritual death.  Whether we can grasp it or not, our physical body means very little.  It’s temporary.  Who we truly are is our spirit.  That is what dies with sin.  The only way around this is faith in Jesus.  In this way, he’s saved us.
• The second two lines are much more than you might think.  A life following something other than God’s truth – a life of sin and selfishness – is a meandering, directionless path.
• Unfortunately, a blindness blankets those who live this way.  They have no idea they are wandering and will wonder right off a cliff eventually.  Speaking to people like this is frustrating.  They sincerely do not see.

 And now, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

 Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

• Keep reading scripture and learning God’s truth.
• AND – at the same time – stay away from that which tempts you (the forbidden fruit) - whatever that is.

 lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

• Think of the politicians, pro athletes, and other public figures who were highly thought of.  Then their sins became public and their entire life came crashing down.  No matter how many good things they may have done, they are now “that guy” (think Tiger Woods, et al).
• Your honor?  Gone.
• Your years of good will be ignored as the merciless tear at your character, questioning everything you’ve ever done that may have been good. 
• They will use your downfall for their gain.
• All because you could not control your desire for the forbidden fruit.  
• But here’s the silver lining … there is always a new beginning.  And you’ll start at a point of humility.  That’s where God wants us.

 and at the end of your life you groan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

 and you say, “How I hated discipline,

and my heart despised reproof!

 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

 I am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”

• This is the “happy" side of Truth.  Sarcasm intended.  But Truth is Truth.  Those who decided to do it there way will be in agony.  They will regret not listening, but it will be too late.
• At the end of the physical life, we will be judged.  If we don’t have Jesus and His saving grace, we will be judged on our track record alone.  This is how the Jews and the Muslims think.  The thing they’ve not concluded in their minds … they are so far off from holy (just like the rest of us) that they don’t stand a chance.  Not alone.  Not without Jesus’ salvation.
• At that time, those who dismissed Jesus and His free gift will realize their enormous mistake.  God does not want that and will do everything He can to avoid that.  We as the Body of Christ do not want that either.  That’s why we MUST evangelize in love.

 Drink water from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

 Should your springs be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets?

 Let them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

• Stick with what you’ve got.  Stick with what God has given you.  Don’t spread your waters about because it “feels good” to do so.  You know it’s not right and not pleasing to God.
• Your body is for your spouse and no one else.  

 Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

 a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated always in her love.

• “Rejoice in the wife of your youth” - Why did you love your spouse so much when you were dating … in those first few years of marriage?  It was because you were giving him/her what he/she needed and he/she was giving you what you need.  You were filled.  Over time, we stop doing that and the negative results follow.    
• Return back to that.  No matter what your spouse does, give him/her what he/she needs.  Love, respect, compassion, sex, whatever.  
• Your spouse is still that person.  Trust God that the “wife of your youth” will reemerge if you do as he commands.  

 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

• The answer to this question:  Because he or she is giving you what your spouse used to give you.  And your spouse no longer gives that to you because YOU stopped giving him/her what he/she needs.  All you are doing with the “forbidden woman” is repeating your same mistakes.  That puppy love will fade, too, if you haven’t learned your lessen.
• What’s better is to invest your energy in the "wife of your youth” not in the “forbidden fruit”.

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

and he ponders all his paths.

• God sees you and watches what you’re doing.  He hopes that you will do what he’s instructed, just like a good father, but he created “free will” to allow you to decide.  When we don’t do what He instructs, He is disappointed, not only because you are going against His rules, but because it’s just not good for you.

 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

 He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.

• Slavery is still alive and well.  We are slaves to our sins.  The only freedom is with God … away from the snares of sin.
• Lack of discipline and folly (things fools do) leads to the spiritual death we talked above earlier.  To truly LIVE, just follow the instructions that came in the box.