Wisdom in the arena of our sexuality…sounds sort of strange but actually it is so badly needed.  Proverbs 5 culminates with the rhetorical question of :

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

It is a reasonable question isn’t it?  Why should or why would I become captured by the body, the sexuality, the passionate relational sphere of a woman other that my own wife?

It is so tempting.  Our culture relates to it and affirms it all the time!  It seems so common and therefore subtly it seems so normal.  But it cause so much turmoil and so much chaos.  Are there reasons why I should refrain?

21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths.

God is our audience.  He is observing my life and how I handle my heart and my mind and even my body.  He is watching to see if my vows mean what they ought to mean both to me and the woman I vowed my fidelity to.  Other watch, but God is the one who really matters.  To please Him and to honor Him is what life is about.

22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

Foolish sexuality is a trap.  The world suggests that sex is free and easy….but just a drop of common sense and life experience shows us that sex is never free and never easy.  It is powerful and it is potentially destructive.

23 He dies for lack of discipline,

A lack of self control kills.  Disciplining ourselves is never easy.  However, good and great things come from having self control, a disciplined life.  Creating and keeping boundaries in our sex lives give life rather than restricting life.

and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Sexual immorality leads to aloneness.  The very thing we ache for is the very thing we lose.  We ache for closeness, for being loved, for being understood, for being accepted, for being safe, for being known and loved.  Sex without boundaries becomes a garden without fences.  The fruit is taken and stolen by those who have no concern for our well-being, it is all for them.  We are left alone.  It is devastating.

Wisdom…it comes in crumbs, bites, and loaves…all are worth digesting.  This past week we offered up six bits that you could choose from…whatever might relate to where you are at in life right now:

1. Obedience from the heart leads to fullness of life (Proverbs 3:1-2)
2. Love and faith from the heart leads to a rich reputation (Proverbs 3:3-4)
3. Trusting from the fullness of our hearts leads to a life of purpose (Proverbs 3:5-6)
4. Honoring God from the heart and shunning evil leads to a healthy life (Proverbs 3:7-8)
5. Giving God  our first and our best will never disappoint us (Proverbs 3:9-10)
6. God’s discipline in our lives is evidence of His love (Proverbs 3:11-12)

 So, as we pursue wisdom we have to entrust ourselves to something or to someone even if that something or someone is ourselves.  But has our own wisdom achieved the life that we long for?  Maybe there is a better foundation available that really works in life, that being the character of God lived out in wisdom for today.

The road to wisdom is one we do in Godly community.  We are not called to isolation…truly we are not islands.  We are called to do this with God’s people, walking the path together in encouragement and accountability.  As we take the wise-o-logy challenge this summer…are you going to do it with other people?  Are we going to step out of our comfort zones and seek to build relationships built on trust and love?  Are we going to grow together in real community?  Are we going to share God’s wisdom and truth with each other?  Are we going to risk rejection to get to know someone on a deeper level?  The risks may seem high and the challenge big, but not doing it is so much harder and so much more dangerous.  So…are you up for it?