For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword.

Proverbs 5:3-4

I’m in a fellowship of guys that read the book of Proverbs every month, a chapter a day. Proverbs is in the wisdom literature section of the Bible and the idea is that the more you read and reflect on it, the wiser you’ll become.

Proverbs contains thirty-one chapters of aged, 190-proof, distilled wisdom about all sorts of life issues – relationships, anger management, money, power, trash-talking, and even sex.

If you track daily with the Proverbs, early in the month you get some head-on advice on how to walk a straight line sexually. This is helpful since most guys think about sex most of the time. That’s not to shame anyone – just calling like it is. God made us to be visually oriented and visually stimulated. And these days there’s a lot to look at – all over the place – so we need some help making our way.

So here’s a thought. When you read the strong warnings that the ancient proverbs give about taking the bait of sexual sin and the insanity of following a mistress to your demise, apply it to the virtual kind also.

For example, here’s a section from Proverbs 7. As you read it, don’t limit the heads-up to a literal temptress. Broaden your application to the virtual kind, too.

6 While I was at the window of my house,
    looking through the curtain,
⁷ I saw some naive young men,
    and one in particular who lacked common sense.
⁸ He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman,
    strolling down the path by her house.
⁹ It was at twilight, in the evening,
    as deep darkness fell.
¹⁰ The woman approached him,
    seductively dressed and sly of heart.
¹¹ She was the brash, rebellious type,
    never content to stay at home.
¹² She is often in the streets and markets,
    soliciting at every corner.
¹³ She threw her arms around him and kissed him,
    and with a brazen look she said,
¹⁴ “I’ve just made my peace offerings
    and fulfilled my vows.
¹⁵ You’re the one I was looking for!
    I came out to find you, and here you are!
¹⁶ My bed is spread with beautiful blankets,
    with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
¹⁷ I’ve perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning.
    Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,
¹⁹ for my husband is not home.
    He’s away on a long trip.
²⁰ He has taken a wallet full of money with him
    and won’t return until later this month.”

²¹ So she seduced him with her pretty speech
    and enticed him with her flattery.
²² He followed her at once,
    like an ox going to the slaughter.
He was like a stag caught in a trap,
²³     awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart.
He was like a bird flying into a snare,
    little knowing it would cost him his life.

Pretty explicit, huh? Most of us will never experience that scene literally, with a woman in the flesh propositioning us like that, however pornography makes it possible for that scene to play out over and over again virtually on our screens.

True?

Turns out, the temptress doesn’t have to be in the flesh to ruin you. Giving ourselves to the ones on the screen can do just as much damage.

Brother, this isn’t a lecture on the devastating effects of porn. You can get that elsewhere. There are volumes of research on it.

This is just one guy to another trying to turn you on to a helpful resource that you might not have known about, something that can help keep you out of a snare.

Because life is better when we’re free.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.