Do Not Go Near…

Proverbs 5:8-10
(8) Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,
(9) lest you lose your honor to others
and your dignity to one who is cruel,
(10) lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.

During temptation, we know right and wrong. During temptation we know we should have nothing to do with the wrong, yet a part of us wants to indulge in that wrong. The desire to remain right and have a taste of the fun that wrong offers is what temptation is made of.

We are only tempted by what we desire. There are certain wrong things that do not tempt us because we do not desire them or have eventually overcome them and have no desire for them. It is possible to desire what we know is wrong.

After fasting for forty days and forty nights, Jesus was tempted to turn stone into bread. He was hungry, He desired food, and that is why it was a temptation. You can’t be tempted by food when you are fully satisfied with a sumptuous meal. When we desire that which is wrong and we know it’s wrong, then that is temptation.

Eve was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit. She knew it was wrong but she desired the promises it offered. Adam was not tempted because he didn’t desire the false promises, 1 Timothy 2:14. Adam ate the forbidden fruit as an act of suicide to die with Eve. You can choose to be wrong without being tempted. You can be deceived into wrongdoing. You can be tempted to do wrong. Temptation has to do with a desire for the wrong we know we shouldn’t indulge in.

James 1:13-15
(13) When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (14) but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. (15) Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

God does not tempt us. Key to temptation is our needs and desires for that which we know is wrong. Unfortunately, desire leads to temptation, when we yield to temptation we commit sin, and sin leads to death. To avoid this death, we must conquer temptation for that is where it all begins.

King Solomon the wisest man to ever live gives advice to his sons in the book of Proverbs that we are focusing on. Solomon tells his sons that when tempted by the adulterous woman, they should not go near. Do not go near!

Do not go near the house of the adulterous woman. Solomon knew that desire deceives the sons to just go near the house but not inside the house. Solomon also knew that those who go near that house eventually go into that house. Therefore Solomon advises his sons not to go near the house!

We will go into a bar, club, or party that has alcohol and other drugs being abused. We will be near but we will not indulge. Solomon gives advice, do not go near!

We go near witches and witch doctors by having their contacts on phone but not planning to call them. We go near misappropriation of tithes and offerings by using them with a plan to refund later. We go near sexual immorality by talking and communicating through texts and chats about it. Pornography is near sexual immorality. We go near sexual immorality by casually playing, touching, and spending time that can be compromising with members of the opposite gender. Solomon in his God-given wisdom tells us, do not go near!

Nobody is tough enough to go near and be safe. If there is a temptation, heed the given advice. Do not go near. May God help us never ever go near that which is wrong, in Jesus’s name, Amen!

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