"Heads in the Sand"

Text: Proverbs 6:20-33

There is a scourge on the land today.  And that scourge affects the church as well.  The scourge I am talking about is marital infidelity and the breakup of families that results from it.  It is something we do not like to think about in the church, much less talk about.  One of the reasons for that is that it is such a painful topic.  We usually tend to address the problem from a different angle, with programs intended to improve marriages.  Such programs are good, as far as they go, but sometimes a more direct approach is needed.  Instead of burying our heads in the sand and pretending that if we ignore a problem it will go away, sometimes a warning needs to be sounded.  Sometimes adultery needs to be called adultery.  That is what we have in this passage--a warning to guard against this particular evil.  This is not the first time Solomon has visited this subject in Proverbs (read chapter five!).  Here, he comes back to it.  Maybe he sees it as especially important.

In these verses Solomon represents the instruction as being from both father and mother.  Perhaps implicit in this is the example of fidelity they have set for their son.  At the core of the admonition for the young man is a warning against "playing with fire" in verses 27-29.  One can expect serious consequences for dabbling in this area.  But even before that, the godly man is counseled, "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart" (verse twenty five).  A man places himself in a position of temptation when he allows his mind to dwell on a woman forbidden to him.  Infatuation can lead to a painful fall.  But more than that, Jesus made it plain that the very lusting makes one guilty of adultery in God's sight.

No one can miss the emphasis put on sexual purity in the Scriptures.  Let each one understand that it is intended for him.

Pastor Dennis Smith