Proverbs Daily Devotional: Day 7
“Say to wisdom, ‘you are my sister,’ and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adultress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.”
Proverbs 7:4-5
Solomon has a lot to say about adultery here and in other Proverbs. I don’t know if he had personal experience with it, but we do know that his father David committed adultery with his mother, Bathsheba. Perhaps Solomon saw the strife and problems that their relationship had as a result, or perhaps Solomon himself struggled in this area. He speaks out against it often.
One powerful tool in walking the straight and narrow is what Dr. Robert Rohm calls Predetermined Dedication. Let me give you an example: I’ve always been a night owl, and never have I been a morning person. Getting up early is difficult, and I am so often tempted to hit the snooze button time and time again. In college, I remember someone saying, “the decision to get up early is not made in the morning, it is made the night before.”
If we night owls make the decision on whether or not to get up while we are most stupefied by sleep in the early morning hours, we are much more likely to sleep in. The same is true if you’re trying to watch your weight. Make the decision to eat healthy before you’re standing in the buffet line. Predetermined dedication. So it is with sin and temptation. The decision not to sin needs to be made before temptation sets in. If we declare that we are people of integrity, and we will not stray from our marriage, then when/if the opportunity arises, we are more likely to stick to our earlier declaration. Choose wisdom, and wisdom will guide you when it matters most
— Pastor Jeff
