March 7

Mar 7 - Today from Proverbs 7 we look at verses 8 & 9
"He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in."

Here, in verses 6-23 of this chapter, we have a story of a ‘simple’ young man involved in a tragic outcome of a life event. As the storyteller observes him, the young man appears to have no specific direction or goals in life. He just walks along to see what opportunities might arise. Without seeking the Lord and His directives in life, one can be assured of what opportunities will arise – temptations that will ultimately ensnare him in tragedy.
The first oversight in the young man’s life is his aimlessness. The story doesn’t say whether he has a vision for his life or not, but one thing is sure, he has no plan. A vision without a plan is nothing more than a dream, and dreamers often come to the end of life with little more than regrets. The young man ambles along and wanders in the direction of an adulteress, just as the sun is setting. The adulteress is making her plans to come onto the street and seduce the first unsuspecting young man who comes along. This is the second oversight, walking into the darkness. The adulteress could represent any temptation, any moral weakness that a person might have. The tempter does her best work in the night. Evil works under the cover of darkness. This is not physical darkness, but covert darkness, out of the sight of the public eye. Those who have not been spiritually enlightened are the most susceptible to fall under the deadly spell of moral temptation. It is because they love the fruit of temptation more than they love truth. They do not understand that the fruit of temptation will ultimately bring misery and death. Jesus put it this way in John 3:19-21: "This is the verdict; Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hated the light, and will not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
The first step in moving from being simple to growing in wisdom is to come to the light and embrace the truth of God’s Word. That is also the first step in developing a plan for life. "Lord, lead me. I want to follow your plan for my life," is in itself a great plan. The Lord will not lead one into temptation. One of the petitions Jesus taught us to pray is, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Matt. 6:13)
What we are to learn from today’s proverb is what not to do. One of the deceiver’s greatest deceptions is to get one to believe, "I am the exception. I am smart enough not to get ensnared." Once a person believes that, the guard is down and the rest is easy for the seducer. The only safe path is the path of light.