Joel M Bradshaw

24And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths…–Proverbs 7

Another sexual chapter. This time the married woman is pursuing the man. Adultery is still wrong. Sin is still sin. And once again, the teachings are directed towards the guy.

Look at the verbs describing the inner war here. LISTEN TO. BE ATTENTIVE TO. HEART TURNING ASIDE TO.

1. What self-talk are you listening to? We talked about discipline and the heart a couple of times ago. A person who walks this man’s path is saying some variation of “I deserve this” or “It’s my time” or “I’ve been patient” or “Am I expected to miss out all my life?”
2. What is he being attentive to? This is where society’s obsession with self-love breaks down. I think this guy loves himself plenty and that’s his problem. He’s not running to the prostitute because he hates himself. That self-loathing will arrive after the deed. It’s not there before. It’s possible that SHE hates herself and therefore does the prostitute thing, but we’re talking about the guy. No, he pays attention to his heart to the degree that it leads him around. He is so attentive to whatever urge or feeling he has. He looks for opportunities to scratch the itch.
3. The inner battle is complete. He’s listened to his excuses, paid attentive care to his heart and now his heart has influenced him poorly. None of us are surprised. This is how it always works. Never follow your heart. We are told in Scripture that the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). This means that it LIES to you. Leads you astray. This guy’s self talk should have been on the attack from the beginning to tell his heart to knock it off. That’s the only way these battles are won.
4. The inner war turned outer. He strayed into her path. He followed his heart. He did what he did because he wanted what he wanted.

So who and what do you listen to?
What are you paying attention to?
How does your heart influence you?
What ways do you turn from the wise path?—JMB