Thought for the Day

Verses 16-17 - Yesterday's devotional told us that if we hide God's Word in our hearts and obey Him, we will not fall into the snare of the enemy. Today's verses warn against the snare of immorality, and they are as applicable today as when first written. Many men have ruined both their reputations and lives by having sexual affairs. This has been demonstrated in recent decades in America in the lives of political and religious leaders. Dishonorable role models have left our nation and churches weakened; our young people disillusioned. God will forgive illicit affairs if one repents, but most people are not as forgiving. They remember them. A loose woman is unfaithful to her husband and forgets her covenant with God. She becomes ensnared with lust, and the devil incites her to flirt with men to lead them astray.

Verse 18 - This verse describes her house as sinking down to death. This is a picture of sin which carries the death principle (meaning that it releases those things that eventually lead to death). Sin always brings a curse. Our nation today is cursed with many painful and incurable sexually-transmitted diseases. At this writing, there are over 42 million people worldwide, who are living with AIDS/HIV, and this number continues to grow. Many of these are children, born from infected mothers. This illustrates that one person's life of sin does not remain as an island to himself, but will eventually infect others, even the innocent.

Verse 19-20 - Those who are unfaithful cannot return to the paths of righteousness without God's help. The warning of Proverbs to men to stay pure is also applicable to women who would be tempted by lustful men. We must pray that our young people and nation return to the Biblical virtues of virginity and chastity before marriage and faithfulness to the marriage vows after wedlock. Fornication, adultery, and other sexual sins divide our homes and destroy the very heart of our nation, as well as the nations of the world.