It’s rather ironic that the book of Proverbs, with all its warnings against being led astray by lust, was authored and edited by Solomon who had 700 wives and 400 concubines. I guess you can get wisdom the hard way by learning from your mistakes. It wasn’t just Solomon’s lust for women, however, that led him astray; it was primarily his appetite for power. His gift of wisdom led him to acquire great wealth and gave him a taste of such great power and fame that would test any human heart. To keep his massive economic machine going Solomon needed to secure foreign alliances and it was here that he made his foolish compromises. In those days political alliances were sealed by marriage. So, it was the famous trio of money, sex and power that derailed Solomon. We are always being tempted by something. The devil doesn’t give up when one thing doesn’t work. He just moves on to the next thing. So, we must be alert. He will try to tempt us particularly in the area of our giftings to turn our strengths to his advantage. You have probably learned this the hard way too, but, if so, make sure you get wiser about the subtleties of temptation. It’s never obvious and it is all too easy for us to deceive ourselves in this respect. So, ask God for a sensitive temptation radar. This will serve you well.
Ask God to make you more aware of the temptations that threaten you.
Read Proverbs 6:20-7:27
