Don't be stupid

There are many things we can say and do that are not necessarily sinful, but they are foolish. They put us right in the path of sin and aren’t much more than stupid decisions. This was the case with a young man in Proverbs chapter 7.

In Solomon’s tale, the young man’s foolishness began with the company he kept. When Solomon looked out from his window, the young man was “among the simple”. This was his first mistake. It has often been said that you become who you surround yourself with. The young man in the story had surrounded himself with the simple – those who lacked discernment – and it cost him.

The importance of this should be obvious to us. The people we spend time with can be a great harm or a great benefit to us. If we are spending the majority of our time with those seeking to please themselves rather than God, we should not be surprised if we start to think like them. The New Testament is clear in its command for Christians to gather together. It should be the case that those we have the most in common with are those who love the Lord. Through spending time with God’s people we will inevitably come to love Him more and be more like Him. If that is our goal we will be intentional about finding others with the same goal.

“I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner”

This was Solomon's assessment of the young man. To some on the outside it may have seemed he wasn't doing anything hazardous, simply walking down the street. However, he was making a major mistake that could have easily been avoided. Solomon says the street is near “her corner”. It was not that the young man was walking down a street he knew nothing about. The woman in the tale was infamous and it was known where she was. Yet he went anyway, “Taking the road to her house” While the man may never have admitted it, he knew where he was going and could have avoided it if he really wanted to. 

Our goal in Christian life is not to get as close to temptation as possible without sinning. Paul told Timothy to flee youthful lusts. As young men, sexual sin is not something to be endured or fought, it is to be fled. The young man in this story should have taken every precaution to avoid temptation, even if that meant taking the long way home.

The danger the man was in is made more clear in verse 9, “in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.” Late at night is a dangerous time when it comes to both sexual sin and sin in general. When it is late, when there’s no one else around and we’re tired, self-discipline wavers much quicker and sin can seem much more appealing than perhaps it would if we were more alert. Wisdom is being aware of our weakness and preemptively avoiding situations that would cause us to sin.

The final foolish mistake the man made prior to his sin was not fleeing when the woman approached him. She had an awful lot to say to try and seduce him, it appealed to his flesh and his sinful nature. As soon as he felt the hint of temptation and saw her intentions he should have fled. This is what Joseph did and his integrity remained intact. It is true that the man should never have been there in the first place, but upon hearing what she had to say to him, he had no excuse. There was a clear invitation to sin that should have been deserted immediately. Instead the sad story ends with a man going “as an ox goes to the slaughter”.

Sin and especially sexual sin can devastate a life. The man’s sin was serious and is made more disappointing by the fact that it could have been avoided with a bit of wisdom. He had spent his time with those he should have avoided, had gone where he shouldn’t at a time that was foolish and stayed when he should have fled. Anywhere along the way he could have made the right decision. His foolishness led to his destruction. As we try to live holy lives let us be wise. Sin is not to be toyed with and we will fall so quickly simply by being stupid.