PROVERBS 5:1-23

The intent of Solomon is to shock our minds and hearts into a healthy faithfulness to the ways of God as revealed by God. The analogy he chooses is powerful and descriptive because it is so easily understood. It’s so easily understood because it is born of basic human instincts and urges. It’s the age-old struggle between the tempting “other woman” and the wife of your youth.

A false picture of the other lady fuels imagination

The temptations of Satan are always built on false promises and danger unrevealed until later. Putting gender aside for a moment, the temptation to seek satisfaction elsewhere is born of a sense of familiarity with what you have and the exotic lure of the unknown. Wives look for “other men” to meet unmet needs. Men look for “other women” for similar reasons. It’s a delusion based upon a lie, since the “known partner” has the potential to meet all of those needs AND the tempter obscures future pain and disappointment as he dangles pleasure for a season.

If you fertilize your lawn, the grass is greener here

The word of God is filled with marriage advice that should be mined from general advice of Christian living. Treating your spouse as you wish to be treated, considering his needs as greater than your own, and loving her as you love yourself all are part of God’s wondrous truth for healthy marriage. The problem comes when one or both spouses stop trying. “Rejoicing in the wife of your youth” teaches us to preserve the freshness of the relationship, nurturing it every day to keep things pristine. It takes work. It takes discipline.

This is not really about marriage at all

These teachings are merely an analogy. To the Hebrews, the “wife of your youth” is Yahweh and the seductress is idolatry. Because they did not work at their relationship with Yahweh they joy departed and their eyes wandered. Dissatisfaction is caused by a lack of self-control. Conversely, it is cured by commitment.

Truth in action is divine fertilizer

When you drink from the well you have you do not develop a taste for other water. Living Water nourishes and refreshes and fertilizes. Devotion to the Word enhances the relationship we have with God and we rejoice! The perceived need for another evaporates. This is true of marriage and true of God. As we put in the time and effort the results become visible. The really is greener on our side of the fence.

Discover … His Joy

Access … His Joy

Share … His Joy