Drink water from your own well—
Proverbs 5:15
What do you suppose “drink water from your own well” means?
It means remain faithful to your spouse in marriage. Fidelity honors God and is the difference between broken homes and thriving, happy families.
Solomon was known for being blessed with wisdom and discretion, a gift from God. But he soon forgot all about it.
He had 1,000 wives and concubines. This was in direct defiance of God’s plan for marriage between one man and one woman. Genesis 2:18-23 (NLT)
As always, God’s moral standard is for all born-again believers. Adultery in any form is sin, and if you claim to be a professing believer, you must follow His law, which applies to both Christian men and women.
Infidelity isn’t just physical; sharing emotional or spiritual intimacy meant for marriage with others is also a breach of trust.
For the Lord sees clearly what a man does,
examining every path he takes.
Proverbs 5:21 (NLT)
Solomon began to see, very late in life, the folly of disobedience. He found himself captive to sinful desires that robbed him of a devoted walk with God. He was held in a cage designed by his own making.
An evil man is held captive by his own sins.
they are ropes that catch and hold him.
Proverbs 5:22 (NLT)
Even believers struggle with self-control, desiring to call the shots. Many believe that freedom means having total autonomy, but the freedom to indulge in excess—whether it’s eating, gossiping, lying, or, as with Solomon, sinful lust—is destructive. God’s wisdom in teaching us His precepts is truly life-giving.
All we have to do is look at people who have given their lives to overindulgence, leaving a wake of death and destruction that harms not only themselves but also others.
He will die for lack of self-control.
He will be lost because of his great foolishness.
Proverbs 5:23
One of the things that this dishonorable behavior cost Solomon was a close and tender relationship with God. How? The pagan women he surrounded himself with turned his heart away from God, at least temporarily.
In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods
instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been.
1 Kings 11:4
Solomon started out on the right path. Because of his request for wisdom the beginning of his kingly rule was led by a right relationship with God. During this time, he wrote the books of Proverbs and Song of Solomon. These Spirit inspired books in God’s Word prove that Solomon knew what the right choices were.
But the last book Solomon penned was the Book of Ecclesiastes. Look at the last lines of Solomon’s testimony.
That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 & 14
It does not matter how many poor choices you have made. God loves you so much. As long as you are breathing you have the opportunity to start over and live a life of wisdom and honor before the Lord.
Here is a link to our passage for today. When you have time, click the link below or open your Bible and read about the peril of disregarding the wisdom of self-control and moral purity.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Getting the Seed out of the basket and into hungry hearts. Matthew 13 