Playing With Fire
Proverbs 6:24-35
I have a blacksmithing forge in my shop at home. It’s not unusual that guys will come out because they want to play in the forge. I’m always happy to have others come out and play, but safety is an issue. When the steel is hot it can burn through many layers of skin in a hurry.
When the steel is red hot, the danger is obvious. Typically, people get burned when the steel is no longer red but still extremely hot. It’s easy to forget the warning and that can be a very painful lesson. Over the years I’ve yet to ever have someone grab a hot piece of steel and not get burned. Trust me, grab the hot steel and you’ll regret it. Every time.
The Proverbs returns to a familiar topic this week, the strange woman. As a matter of fact, the specific reason for needing the light we talked about last week is to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the strange woman. She’s out there and she’s coming for you. This is why we need to be ready with the flashlight in hand.
Again, the warning is to a son, so the sexual predator is a woman. It could just as easily be a man if the conversation was with a daughter. We live in a sexually pornified culture and the stakes are high. The temptation is real. The opportunities to get burned are many.
The Proverb asks can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her will not go unpunished. If you play with fire you’re going to get burned. Count on it.
As we’ve seen before there are natural laws and moral laws. Both are equally binding. You can convince yourself that gravity is not true for you, but reality will set in when you jump from a 10-story building. You remember we defined fools as those who live contrary to reality. Only a fool would jump from a building thinking the natural laws don’t apply to him.
The same is true of moral laws. We are not free to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. God sets the moral laws and we ignore them to our peril. Sex outside God’s design and plan comes with consequences that are real. You can’t beat the system any more than you can jump off a building and fly. Not happening. That’s why the Proverb says, the one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it.
When guys come out to play in the forge, I always give my safety speech. I provide leather gloves and do all I can to prevent injuries, but sometimes people get burned. The funny thing is I can usually tell early on who the person is who will most likely get burned. It’s the person who doesn’t really listen. He doesn’t pay attention. He’s certain it won’t happen to him. He ignores the warnings and soon enough he has a permanent tattoo as a memento of his time in the forge. It’s hard to warn someone who won’t listen. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Uh…no.
The pornography industry is a 100-billion-dollar industry worldwide. Just pause and ponder that for a moment. The number one consumers of pornography are those between the ages of twelve and seventeen. This is not by accident. The porn industry is intentionally coming for your children. The fourth leading internet search by children up through seventeen is sex. Number five is pornography. Studies show that pornography is significantly altering the undeveloped brains of children and teenagers and it is unknown today if their brains will recover and develop properly.
One big problem is many of these children and teenagers face their struggle alone because their parents live in sexual bondage as well. How can any adult help the next generation find freedom from such bondage if he or she leads a sexually impure life? How can you rescue a drowning victim if you yourself can’t swim?
Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? People today are deeply offended at the fact that at one time our country bought and sold slaves like a commodity. We should be offended at this. That was a horrible abuse of people made in God’s image with dignity and worth.
Yet, we turn right around and do it all over again today. Our sexually pornified world produces sex slaves all over the world. I can assure you there are truck stops within 200 miles of where you live that are engaged in the sex trafficking of young boys and girls. The slave trade is alive and well in our sophisticated twenty-first century world. The fire burns hot with no shortage of victims including well over a million helpless children each year.
It all feels so overwhelming. What can I do? We can all start by living skillful lives of sexual purity. Learn to swim so you can help others who are drowning. No excuses. No rationalizations. No more half-hearted attempts to change. There’s a reason why Proverbs talks about this issue frequently. Very few issues we face have such a potential to hold us in bondage and shame as sexual sin.
Talk to someone. Seek help. Stop lying and hiding and face your issue. Freedom awaits those who surrender to Jesus and turn from their sin. Thousands have experienced freedom in Christ and so can you. Take whatever steps you need to this week and let’s heed the warning before the fire consumes us. Skillful living requires we rise above the immorality of our day and walk uprightly before God.