they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words. Proverbs 7:5

As I’ve said elsewhere recently, when the Lord wants to emphasize something in Scripture, he’ll repeat it numerous times. Wisdom is one of those themes. A subtheme in these verses is young men and their lustful tastes. Obviously we could apply a larger theme as one of the ‘Seduction of Our Times’ or some such theme, but I don’t think this is what the writer of Proverbs is trying to say. Sometimes the best explanation for something is the most obvious.

Quite pointedly: men are easily seduced by unhappy (wayward) and seductive women. It doesn’t get any plainer than that.

But the overarching picture, though, is that the wisdom of God can keep both men and women in their places! Whew! How so? By not placing ourselves in situations where we can be tempted or seduced. Again, this applies to men and women because it does take “two to tango,” so to speak.

And I am convinced that you are reading this devotional for a specific purpose. I do not know most of you who read this, nor do I know of specific situations. But as I stated a few days ago, some are teetering on going too far with your relationships.

Be careful. Be very careful.