Thought for the Day

Verse 23 - Obedience to the commandments of the Lord is like walking by the light of a lamp shining in a dark night. If we went out walking at night without a light, we would stumble and fall. No one can go very far without a light to guide them. Even sailors use the light of the stars to navigate on the seas. God's Word is the guiding light of our lives.

Verses 24-26 - Obeying God's Word keeps a man from being ensnared by evil women. The adulteress impoverishes the precious life of a man. An evil women entices him with alluring dress, provocative looks, and flattery. Satan easily ensnares a man if he can get him to engage in conversation with her. These verses apply to women as well as to men. Naive women can be led astray by lustful men in the same way.

Verses 27-28 - A man cannot expose himself to great temptation and expect not to fall. Whoever thinks that a fling with a prostitute is harmless is deceived. A man cannot give in to this type of sin and not expect it to hurt him. It is like holding fire to his chest; it brings physical, emotional, and spiritual damage. To avoid sin, a man must flee its enticement. He does this by avoiding situations where he knows he would be tempted to commit fornication. "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body" (1 Corinthians 6:18).

Fornication is any illicit sexual act. The Greek word for a fornicator is pornos, the root of our word pornography. Anyone tempted to indulge in pornography must flee it. Some ways to do this are: destroy all pornographic materials owned; avoid places that sell pornographic material; install a computer program to block pornographic emails. Those trapped in this bondage can be freed by the power of the Holy Spirit. God is forgiving, and will bring deliverance but it is best to never fall into this trap in the first place.

Verse 29 - What is true of fornication is true of adultery. Adultery is defined as a sexual act a married person commits outside of marriage. The Bible says that a man that has intercourse with any woman besides his own wife is guilty of adultery. This sin brings evil consequences and a troubled conscience that tortures the emotions.