Proverbs 5:15-20 says,...
Today's verses are Proverbs 5:15-20, which read,
v.15, 16 - Drink water from your own cistern and fresh water from your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?
This section starts with a question and ends with another. This section is also very graphic in its illustration. It is like the "birds and bees talk" that you have with your child when they are at the appropriate age. Let's venture through this discretely but not lose the weight of the text or illustration to make the point of the proverb.
Marriage is to be refreshing like a cold glass of water on a really hot day. The refreshment that we receive from this marriage relationship is to come from that relationship. We are not to be refreshed from a relationship that is not ordained and created by God. When we seek refreshment from outside of that God honoring relationship then some of the consequences could be those created by stepping outside of God's design and putting them in a situation that is not ideal to receive love and care as God has commanded us to give.
The answer to the question about receiving refreshment outside of the marriage relationship that God ordained and created is "no." Consequences will be acquired if you do so that you would not have faced if you would have stayed on the path that God has created.
Again, we can look at the greatest adultery that we could commit and that is against God. Our refreshment is to be with Him and from Him. When we look for our fulfillment outside of His will then we will acquire consequences that will produce words and actions that we will later regret and impact others with a message not from a loving God but a self seeking Satan.
v.17-19 - Let them be yours alone and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be exhilarated always with her love.
A possibility of marriage is the procreation of children. The procreation of children can also come outside the bounds of God honoring and created marriage. The proverb is to keep the possibility of procreating children within the design that God created between you and your spouse and not you and a stranger to God's divine plan.
As male and female we are attracted to one another and under the bonds of marriage we are to keep that attraction to the one we have pledged it to. To continue to be attracted to your mate is again not a passive activity but an active one. You put things in place to grow in your love for the one you stood at the altar with. Hundreds of books have been written about keeping the flame of love alive in the marriage relationship and I would expect that none of them say to just do nothing. My love for my wife has grown because we are actively seeking to love each other more.
Back to God and our relationship with Him. We have received salvation from Him. He is the One who makes us born again or born anew. The Scriptures tell us to work out our salvation and I emphasis work out and not work for. You have salvation, a relationship with God through the work of the cross of Christ and now you work at seeing it grow. How does that happen? The big five are worship, prayer, service, fellowship, and reading of His Scriptures. I will not grow in my love for God without these happening in my life.
I have seen so many marriage relationships were it was lovey dovey and gushy gushy before the altar scene and then all that turned off like flipping off the light switch after the "I do." All that effort to love one another stopped and the relationship suffered for it. I have seen that also with Christians who stop actively pursuing God. The relationship suffers not because of God but because of our lack of attention to Him.
v.20 - For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
The answer the question is that you shouldn't be acting on the attraction to another that is not your mate because you are actively pursuing to love your mate more. That other person is a foreigner to relationship that you are in. There are only two legal citizens to the country of marriage and it is you and your spouse. All others are illegal aliens who don't have the proper documentation to be here. This might be a pretty politically charged illustration to use but it might be helpful to understand what is happening when we try to modify God's plan.
Maybe a friendlier discussion would be the Sesame Street song about one of these doesn't belong. You were given that screen with similar objects but in one of the sections was something that wasn't. You were encouraged and praised for pointing it out and then it disappeared. Something is foreign and we live in a world where a lot doesn't belong to what God's design is and is being celebrated and partaking in that has consequences because of our lack of attention to God and His Word.
Back to our relationship with God, what have we let into that relationship that is foreign to Him? What doesn't belong? Sin doesn't belong; lights under a bushel don't belong; unbridled loose tongues don't belong; unwholesome talk doesn't belong, dancing on the line or fence doesn't belong; jumping the guardrail doesn't belong; not having a guardrail doesn't belong; and the list of God's warnings go on and on to protect us from the consequences of way of Satan's schemes. The path of God is a path that keeps our attention and love actively on Him and we will not suffer the consequences but reap the benefits of a satisfied relationship that God created for us to experience. Let's pray.
"Lord, this passage is very visual to the dangers of stepping outside of the boundaries that You have set up in marriage. We have seen what happens to us and others when we don't give proper attention to the design and instruction given to us in relationship to that one holy sexual relationship created by You. We also see what can happen when we neglect the relationship that You have provided to us through Your one and only Son Jesus. May we reap benefits today instead of suffer consequences because we have pursued after You and not a foreigner. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.15, 16 - Drink water from your own cistern and fresh water from your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?
This section starts with a question and ends with another. This section is also very graphic in its illustration. It is like the "birds and bees talk" that you have with your child when they are at the appropriate age. Let's venture through this discretely but not lose the weight of the text or illustration to make the point of the proverb.
Marriage is to be refreshing like a cold glass of water on a really hot day. The refreshment that we receive from this marriage relationship is to come from that relationship. We are not to be refreshed from a relationship that is not ordained and created by God. When we seek refreshment from outside of that God honoring relationship then some of the consequences could be those created by stepping outside of God's design and putting them in a situation that is not ideal to receive love and care as God has commanded us to give.
The answer to the question about receiving refreshment outside of the marriage relationship that God ordained and created is "no." Consequences will be acquired if you do so that you would not have faced if you would have stayed on the path that God has created.
Again, we can look at the greatest adultery that we could commit and that is against God. Our refreshment is to be with Him and from Him. When we look for our fulfillment outside of His will then we will acquire consequences that will produce words and actions that we will later regret and impact others with a message not from a loving God but a self seeking Satan.
v.17-19 - Let them be yours alone and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be exhilarated always with her love.
A possibility of marriage is the procreation of children. The procreation of children can also come outside the bounds of God honoring and created marriage. The proverb is to keep the possibility of procreating children within the design that God created between you and your spouse and not you and a stranger to God's divine plan.
As male and female we are attracted to one another and under the bonds of marriage we are to keep that attraction to the one we have pledged it to. To continue to be attracted to your mate is again not a passive activity but an active one. You put things in place to grow in your love for the one you stood at the altar with. Hundreds of books have been written about keeping the flame of love alive in the marriage relationship and I would expect that none of them say to just do nothing. My love for my wife has grown because we are actively seeking to love each other more.
Back to God and our relationship with Him. We have received salvation from Him. He is the One who makes us born again or born anew. The Scriptures tell us to work out our salvation and I emphasis work out and not work for. You have salvation, a relationship with God through the work of the cross of Christ and now you work at seeing it grow. How does that happen? The big five are worship, prayer, service, fellowship, and reading of His Scriptures. I will not grow in my love for God without these happening in my life.
I have seen so many marriage relationships were it was lovey dovey and gushy gushy before the altar scene and then all that turned off like flipping off the light switch after the "I do." All that effort to love one another stopped and the relationship suffered for it. I have seen that also with Christians who stop actively pursuing God. The relationship suffers not because of God but because of our lack of attention to Him.
v.20 - For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
The answer the question is that you shouldn't be acting on the attraction to another that is not your mate because you are actively pursuing to love your mate more. That other person is a foreigner to relationship that you are in. There are only two legal citizens to the country of marriage and it is you and your spouse. All others are illegal aliens who don't have the proper documentation to be here. This might be a pretty politically charged illustration to use but it might be helpful to understand what is happening when we try to modify God's plan.
Maybe a friendlier discussion would be the Sesame Street song about one of these doesn't belong. You were given that screen with similar objects but in one of the sections was something that wasn't. You were encouraged and praised for pointing it out and then it disappeared. Something is foreign and we live in a world where a lot doesn't belong to what God's design is and is being celebrated and partaking in that has consequences because of our lack of attention to God and His Word.
Back to our relationship with God, what have we let into that relationship that is foreign to Him? What doesn't belong? Sin doesn't belong; lights under a bushel don't belong; unbridled loose tongues don't belong; unwholesome talk doesn't belong, dancing on the line or fence doesn't belong; jumping the guardrail doesn't belong; not having a guardrail doesn't belong; and the list of God's warnings go on and on to protect us from the consequences of way of Satan's schemes. The path of God is a path that keeps our attention and love actively on Him and we will not suffer the consequences but reap the benefits of a satisfied relationship that God created for us to experience. Let's pray.
"Lord, this passage is very visual to the dangers of stepping outside of the boundaries that You have set up in marriage. We have seen what happens to us and others when we don't give proper attention to the design and instruction given to us in relationship to that one holy sexual relationship created by You. We also see what can happen when we neglect the relationship that You have provided to us through Your one and only Son Jesus. May we reap benefits today instead of suffer consequences because we have pursued after You and not a foreigner. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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