Be Satisfied By Your Own Spouse Alone

Today’s Bible Reading:  Proverbs 4-6; Romans 8

Journal Entry on a passage from today’s reading:

Topic: Marital Faithfulness

SCRIPTURE:  Proverbs 5:3-6, 15-21

³ …the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; ⁴ but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. ⁶ She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not. (Prov 5:3-6 NIV)

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. ¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? ¹⁷ Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. ¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. ¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. ²⁰ Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?

²¹ For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths.

(Prov 5:15-21 NIV)

OBSERVATION:

The wisdom extolled in the biblical proverbs, though often allegorical, is unambiguous and specific. The message of Proverbs 5 is to shun adultery and to embrace marital fidelity. The façade of the adulteress may appear to be appealing and one may be tempted toward the physical gratification offered. The ultimate journey’s end of such dalliance, however, is death and destruction. Heed the wisdom to avoid that path! The illustration of drinking from one’s own cistern alone and not sharing one’s blessed fountain with others is a clear picture of the sacredness of marital union. Men, rejoice in your own wife. Be captivated by her love. Be satisfied with her breasts. Women, be as a loving doe and graceful deer to your to your husband. Be alluring to your own husband only. Keep your love and your sexuality for him alone.    

APPLICATION:                                        

Marital infidelity is a trap into which unwise men and women have been falling for thousands of years. Fortunately a majority of men and women throughout history have wisely lived monogamously. It has been debated as to just why mankind has for the most part embraced monogamy. I read an article recently suggesting that originally men and women lived in groups and engaged in free sexual intercourse with many different partners. As the tribes grew larger, men and women began have exclusive one man and one woman relationships because a man had to stay home to protect his woman and their offspring from other men who would kill the children to steal the woman. It was matter of protecting the propagation of the race. The same article suggested that today we are beginning to evolve beyond the need for such archaic mutual relationships and are headed toward liberal sexuality as the accepted norm once again. Excuse me?!! This is not evolution, this is setting the trap for more and more people to fall into. It was God who ordained that one man and one woman should live as husband and wife for our own good fulfillment and healthy life. The writer of proverbs long ago recognized this as wise. To believe otherwise is to devolve rather that evolve, and to be led down paths that are crooked and go down to death.

PRAYER:

Lord, grant me the strength and understanding to teach and proclaim Your wisdom effectively in today’s society. May Your precepts be practiced more and more rather than less and less. Never-the-less Lord Jesus come quickly. Amen.  –AP