“No Solicitors”

Read Proverbs 7

She is often in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner.

Proverbs 7:12

Temptation is easy to find. Most of us don’t really have to try very hard to put ourselves in a situation where we are tempted to do wrong: the recovering alcoholic and the bar, the gambler and the casino, the sex addict and the newsstand or the Internet—even the dieter and the nearest cookie jar!

In this passage, the temptress seduces the young, foolish man. She knows what she wants, and she stands brazenly “in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner.” Temptation is brazen, for Satan desires to lure us to commit sin. He wants to see us fail, be embarrassed, ruin our witness for Christ, or fall back into addiction. To do so, he will solicit in every corner of our lives.

How do we stay out of his traps? We follow wise teachings, guard them, and write them deep in our hearts (7:1-3), so we can say “No!” to the brazen solicitations of temptation.

A WORD FOR TODAY

Beware of temptation ambushes.

Lord, help me to stand firm in the face of this temptation that is trying to lure me into sin. Give me words from your Word to help me say no to temptation.