Folly Hidden by Good Acts

Scripture:
She seizes him and kisses him,
and with impudent face she says to him:
"I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you!"
Proverbs 7:13-15

Observation: A young man is walking along and lured into the bed of an adulteress. She of course represents the folly of sin - the opposite of lady wisdom - the temptation of disobeying the Lord.

Her first words are very interesting, however. She begins her effort to tempt the man by declaring that ... this very day she has upheld her duty to the Lord. She has offered sacrifices and paid the obligations of someone who complies with the Lord's instructions. Therefore, she is in 'good standing' if you will, and thus ready to be with her lover.

This is the nature of the most dangerous sin for faithful believers. We know how to easily avoid obvious digressions. However, the dangerous slope is when we seek to comply with those most obvious instructions and convince ourselves that we do it so well that we can wander into a little unharmful dalliance. The 'harlot' has paid our great sacrifice - probably as the dutiful wife who did this together with her husband before he left on his trip - so she can now take a lover in secret. And the young man can see that the woman is faithful with a spirit aligned to the Lord, so certainly being with her cannot be such a terrible act.

These are the true deceptions of this world. The world would convince us that sinful acts are not THAT bad - and perhaps no even sin at all - because they appear to be aligned to God's truth. If God's command is to love others, that MUST including not rejecting the personal life choices of others. If God's command is to aid the poor, that MUST include facilitating the life choices of the poor in order to aid their immediate pain. If God's command is to be peacemakers, that MUST include refusing to speak against popular opinions and thus create conflict.

When the world's sin tries so hard to create the appearance of alignment to God's will, it is hard to discern between the harlot of folly and the lady of wisdom.

Application: More and more, I know I must test everything in this world against the word of God. God's word is actually very clear and completely consistent. It teaches how to both align faith with actions, and to define faith through actions. It teaches how to love people but hate sin. It teaches how to speak gently, while speaking accountability and truth. Most of all, it also teaches about how the liar of this world manipulates God's word to lead us into his snares.

I do not want to be a man who cannot see the deceptions and folly of this world, even when they are wrapped in a facade of love and hope to be made to look like wisdom.

Prayer: Lord, I ask for your protection from satan today and every day. Lead me on your path of righteousness, holding your hand in our walk together. I seek wisdom, not folly. Amen.