Read
–17–
26My son, pay close attention,
and gladly follow
my example.
27Bad women and unfaithful wives
are like a deep pit—
28they are waiting to attack you
like a gang of robbers
with victim after victim.
Reflect
In the mountains a blocked highway can mean a massive detour. If someone closed one of these roads on a whim, many would be justifiably angry. If, however, the closure was necessitated by a washed out bridge, the decision represents a legitimate concern to save lives. The first decision intends to deprive us; the second one intends our well-being.
We live in a century that presses the philosophy that failing to act on our sexual impulses will harm us. This understanding contrasts with most human cultures who have believed that society, in order for people to thrive, needs boundaries around human sexuality. The Bible affirms the wisdom of these cultures. Sexual energy is a powerful motivator. Its misplaced expression causes harm. The recent hacking of a website designed to enable spouses to cheat on each other caused much pain and threatened to rupture families.
Many people resist boundaries on sexual behaviour, but the emotional damage from divorce has multiplied and the physical trauma of sexually transmitted disease has taken a severe toll. When will we recognize much of the pain is unnecessary? God, in tender mercy, wishes to spare us this pain. Sexual energy is best channeled through the committed relationship of marriage. “Bad women and unfaithful wives are like a deep pit” for men. They will fall in and experience great harm. Women, too, can be drawn away from chastity and find their seducers are “like a gang of robbers” who cheat them of their desire for secure relationships. How much better to channel that energy to cultivate richness in our marriages. God is not depriving us in giving these warnings, but seeking to give us the deepest longings of our heart. This “closed road” saves our lives.
Respond
Faithful God, who provides our ultimate security through your unfailing loving-kindness, strengthen us to mature in our commitments to one another – especially our marriages – that we may affirm the beauty and satisfaction of walking in your ways to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Axel Schoeber
Axel Schoeber has been an elementary teacher; a Baptist pastor for 27 years in Jasper, Calgary, Penticton and Victoria; and is now Associate Professor of Supervised Ministry at Carey Theological College in Vancouver. He supervisors the field education of pastors and others preparing for ministries and teaches Reimagining the Educational Mission of the Church and Baptist Identity. He directs the Mentored Ministry program for the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, and loves his family. Publications: ‘“Christian Society”: A More Influential Concept Than Often Understood?’ http://www.csrs.uvic.ca ‘John Calvin and the “Still-born” Third Option in the French Reformation’ in Calvin@500: Theology, History, and Practice, Richard R. Topping and John A. Vissers, ed. (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick, 2011)