Seduced

So she seduced him with her pretty speech

and enticed him with her flattery.

He followed her at once,

like an ox going to the slaughter.

He was like a stag caught in a trap,

awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart.

He was like a bird flying into a snare,

little knowing it would cost him his life. Proverbs 7:21-23

IN THIS PROVERB, the father tells his son how he looked out his window one day and saw a naive young man doing something stupid. The young man had gone out of his way to stroll by the house of an immoral woman. He was curious and foolishly unaware of his own vulnerability. The imagery seems to fit exactly the situation we as parents face today. We may take a look at the Internet history on the computer and discover our child has gone on a search for pornographic images. What is a wise parent to do?

The wise father in this proverb remains engaged in order to safeguard the sexual purity of his son. He is a realist about the aggressive tactics of peddlers of sex and about his son’s susceptibility. So he spells out how his son will be approached, preparing him to be alert and ready for it. He provides a preview of what he will be promised, how his ego will be stroked, and how beautiful and pleasurable it will appear. But he is also clear about the high cost if his son follows the enticement by pursuing what is offered. Sexual sin, though pleasurable in the moment, will have a deadening impact. It will rob him of life rather than add to it.

Our savvy sons and daughters think of themselves as smart and in control, but we recognize their susceptibility to seduction. So we are wise to set up practical safeguards and install accountability software —for ourselves and for them —even as we point out where the path of sexual sin leads.

Father, I need wisdom from you to know how to guide ________ toward purity in a world of available sexual images, aggressive sex peddlers, and acceptance of sexual perversion. Give me wisdom to confess my own need for your power to overcome sexual temptation and words to express the availability of forgiveness and cleansing for sexual sinners.