Today's Scripture reading from Windows of Wisdom by Stephen F. Olford is Proverbs 5:15-18
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
I have to admit to wondering why Olford doesn't take the entirety of this chapter to study as it is all about the same thing. Don't commit adultery. Stay true to the one that you married.
As the author says later in this Proverb
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
21 For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and he ponders all his paths.
22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
21 For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and he ponders all his paths.
22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.
Being committed to the one that you marry is a discipline. There are all types of distractions out there for folks in life. People will joke about being a golf window, a computer widow, a Whatever you want it to be widow, people will spend time with people who will lead them away from their families. It's a choice. We can choose to stay committed to that which GOD himself has called us.
For me... I can spend HOURS on the computer...talking with others about rabbits, guinea pigs, reading up on the lives of others, playing games and what not...hubby was complaining so I made a choice...I will sit on the couch with him and watch TV. Do I do this every night and all night? NO.. but I do it more often. I will play lego with my son, I will teach him, I'll drag the family out for a walk. It's a choice.. I can take my 'me time' later, I can do "my thing" later. God calls me to love that which he has given me. I can do only what I want without thinking about it, or I can make choices that serve God better and my family more, and it's interesting, the more I exercise discipline in following the calling God has placed on my life...the better I do, and the better my family does as a family.
Anyways, what does Olford have to say? He makes two main points
1. Divine Love Condemns lustful marriage
- I had to read this section a few times to get what he was getting at. A man should be the husband of one wife and should not...is commanded of God to not touch another woman in a lustful manner.
2. Divine love Commends lawful marriage
- But the contrast is that a man should desire his own wife and should want to spend time with her. that drinking water from his own well should satisfy him.
2 comments:
I'm not following the logic behind point #1. The passage isn't about 'lustful marriage' but about committing adultery (i.e., lusting after someone else while married).
it's hard in a few words to really say what olford is talking about and in retrospect I should probably have tried harder.
In essence what he was saying is be married to one woman. Don't look outside of marriage. BUT you need to remember this: she is your wife. The two of you are one body. Treat her like she should be treated. Not like a harlot, but like a wife.
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