A Modern Story of Seduction

Proverbs 7:6-27

Proverbs has a lot to say about two types of women; one has wisdom and insight, the other deception and harm to all who end up at her door.  This is the story of a foolish young man, not the one in Proverbs 7:6-29, but a young man I know too well.  The women in the story does not dress like a prostitute, she is a stay at home mom, active at church, but not happy at home, but that is a well-kept secret. 

The foolish young man was raised in the church but did not ask Jesus into his life till he was in his twenties, and for all those years before Christ, he learned to get his needs met outside of Christ.  He is carrying all of that flesh or baggage into his new relationship with Jesus.  He needs to be taught the ways of God but in his excitement and zeal to be used of God he becomes the teacher of youth.

Now before bringing judgment on this foolish young man you must understand his heart is wanting to do good, he loves everyone and yet still is harsh with his wife who also is a new creation in Christ.  But zeal without knowledge and understanding will always lead you down the path of self, and yet it seemed that Gods blessing was on him and his ministry seemed to grow where he was now leading lay witness missions on weekends at churches all over Texas. 

I must say to the best of my knowledge this foolish young man was very dependent on God for these meetings, and so were the other lay members on the team.  And over and over they saw God show up and change the lives of many who had been religious but entered into a personal walk with the Lord.  I often wonder why God picked such a man to do this when all around him were men of excellent skills and knowledge of the Scriptures.  Did I tell you that part of all of those teams was the wife and husband of the lady mentioned above?

The young, foolish man was married to a young lady that often cried, it seemed for no reason, and he was too foolish to understand that she was very tender to the voice of God and had a tender heart for the needs of others that he did not have at this time.   But the other woman was so accomplished and wanted to be the leader of the ladies luncheons at these weekends, so as the fool he was he chose her over his wife, fearful that his wife’s emotions would mess things up.

The two couples became best of friends and did everything together, and soon the other woman began to use her skills and charm to draw this young fool into her web.  At first, he was flattered that someone like her would find him of interest, but then a voice that sure sounded like him began to explore what a life with such a woman would be like and it seemed all good.  So what did this foolish young man need, he was deep into the lies of the enemy, and because he was stupid, prideful and dishonest he would not seek help, and like many, a man who wanted only to do good brought shame on the name of Jesus and His church?

That is the bad news, but God, I am so glad God looks on the heart and even a foolish young man can turn and with a broken heart come to his Father and ask for forgiveness, and that is what he did.  In 1st John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

He is now an older man, a man who has learned to do as Micah 6:8 teaches; “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Has he arrived at doing this, sometimes, a lot of the time, but he still battles with that voice that sounds like him, the one that tells him he deserves, or often brings up all his past mistakes and failures and tells him he has no worth or value.  But the other voice is so much softer, and it shows him he is of great worth and value for he is a child of the King, the Creator, and that he is loved much, that voice never attacks his character, but does confront the sin in his life.

Did I tell you that he and his wife have spent many years together she still has a very tender heart to the ways of God, and they have been in many ministries and wanted God to use them in whatever is His pleasure? 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice