June 7

Proverbs 7
25Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths; 26For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men. 27Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death.
Why would anybody leave the pleasures of the glory of the Lord for something else? The lure of pleasure has always been the trap of Satan and our own flesh. Even in the perfection of the Garden of Eden, where Eve saw the glory of the Lord, Satan caused Eve to think that the fruit was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and desirable for food. 2 Cor 11:3 says that the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness. She thought the pleasure of the food and wisdom were better than the pleasure of the glory of the Lord? Wow! The power of deception even in the midst of perfection must really be strong! Yet 1 Timothy 2:14 says that Adam was not deceived. Why would Adam choose fruit above the glory of the Lord if he was not deceived? Hmmm. . . I think that Adam was afraid of losing the pleasure of intimacy with Eve, and so he chose her over the glory of God.
Researchers have studied what affect the “True Love Waits” campaign has had upon the sexuality of evangelical kids. The result is that while evangelical kids say they believe sex outside marriage is wrong, the percentage rate of evangelical kids engaging in pre-marital sex is the same as the general population. We say we believe that it is wrong, but we do it anyway. Hmmm. . . Sounds like Adam. Solomon says, “Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, . . . Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death.” And he was as guilty as any of us. Here is arguably the wisest of all men, save Jesus, a man who saw the glory of the Lord in a vision, a man blessed immeasurably by the Lord, yet he is a man who willfully ignored His own wisdom. Yet in some measure, are we not all like him?
Where is the glory of Christ in this chapter? Yesterday we learned that our sexuality is meant to be a mirror of the passionate, committed and joy-filled love that exists between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and love between the Son and His bride, the church. The Son remains committed to His church. We the church ought to remain chaste and committed to Him. We must not let our hearts be turned to other lovers. When we remain chaste, we are allowing the purity of His love to be seen through us. When we are unchaste, we obscure His glory like that of a promiscuous fool. Let us remain chaste toward Him. Let us feast upon His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john