Stay out of harm’s way

The Bible sets the scene for us: “‘You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are! My bed is spread with…colored sheets of Egyptian linen…Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses, for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip…and won’t return until later this month’…and enticed him with her flattery. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter…like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart…like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life” (Proverbs 7:15-23 NLT). Let’s modernize the setting. The bed could be the back seat of a car. The linens could be plush carpet in front of a fireplace. The spices could be beer and pizza accompanied by soft background music. Today we call such liaisons “friends with benefits.” It means each has all the benefits of sexual intimacy without a shred of commitment or concern for the other person’s wellbeing. And experts can document a growing mountain of evidence that it always ends the same way: with guilt, depression, and devastated lives. Solomon pleads, “Listen to me, my sons…pay attention to my words. Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path. For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims. Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death” (vv. 24-27 NLT). In other words: remove yourself from harm’s way before you get in over your head!