TODAY IN THE WORD
Boris Pasternak’s powerful novel, Doctor Zhivago, traces the Russian Revolution through the life of a young doctor, Yuri Zhivago, who is torn between love for his wife and family and overwhelming passion for a beautiful nurse, Lara. Zhivago loses everyone in the end and dies a tragic, lonely death. Among other things, this novel shows the painful consequences of adultery.

Yesterday we looked at the command to guard one’s heart; today this exhortation is applied to marriage. The son is told to listen to his father’s wise words so that his own lips might preserve knowledge. In stark contrast are the lips of the adulteress. With smooth words, she promises much, but the one who samples this fruit will find a bitter end instead of a sweet reward.

Proverbs never lets us forget that there’s a future beyond the here and now, and so once again, we are challenged to ask, “Where does this particular path lead?” And the answer is clear: to death. Even the adulteress appears to have deceived herself on this point (v. 6).

The only course of action is to avoid her at all costs. Verses 8-14 graphically portray the perils of adultery. They show a wasted life filled with regret. What was relished in secret becomes publicly exposed ruin (v. 14).

Avoiding adultery is only half the command given here. The young man is also to delight in his marriage. Water is a metaphor for sexual relations, also used in Song of Songs 4:12-15. In both passages, these streams of water are to be enjoyed only within the context of marriage. We shouldn’t be surprised by the straightforward language here. We are physical, emotional, and spiritual creatures, and God’s Word addresses all aspects of who we are created to be as human beings.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Some people try to interpret Proverbs 5 only spiritually, but that denies that we are created with physical bodies–and what we do with them is very important to God.

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