Proverbs 7 -- Tempting Ourselves And Tempting God

Solomon reveals to his son the methods used to ensnare young men in sexual sin.  Unfortunately, we often ensnare ourselves by tempting OURSELVES.  The young man he describes was convinced that he could play with sin and get away with it.  “He tempts himself by being out at night” (in a time when there were no street lights or electricity).  He was also “deliberately walking near the place of temptation and danger,” my commentary noted.  “God’s word wasn’t controlling his feet.  He hadn’t made a covenant with his eyes, like Job, nor had he fled temptation like Joseph, my commentary added.  “We can’t help being tempted, but we can certainly help tempting OURSELVES.”

 

It was also very interesting that my commentary said he was tempting GOD.  “We tempt God when we deliberately disobey Him and put ourselves into situations so difficult that only God can deliver us.  It’s as though we dare Him to do something … By going to her house, her table, and her bed, the young man willfully disobeyed God’s law, but the Lord didn’t intervene.  He allowed the youth to indulge in his sensual appetites and suffer the consequences.  God could have stopped him, but He didn’t, because the Word says, ‘You shall not tempt [put to the test] the Lord your God.’”  Too often, we fail to realize that “keeping God’s commandments is a matter of life or death.”

 

Father, we all too often seem to want to see just how close to the edge of the cliff we can get and not fall off.  I never thought of it as tempting You.  Thank You for helping me see that anytime I willfully and intentionally walk closely to temptation, I’m endangering myself because I’m tempting You.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford