Proverbs 6:23-29

their corrective discipline
    is the way to life.
²⁴ It will keep you from the immoral woman,
    from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
²⁵ Don’t lust for her beauty.
    Don’t let her coy glances seduce you.
²⁶ For a prostitute will bring you to poverty,^[a]
    but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.
²⁷ Can a man scoop a flame into his lap
    and not have his clothes catch on fire?
²⁸ Can he walk on hot coals
    and not blister his feet?
²⁹ So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife.
    He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

Corrective discipline is stated here as a way to life. I know that in raising my kids, discipline is a gift- not a curse.  Discipline, when used correctly, says, “I love you too much to allow that behavior- it will hurt you eventually”.  God loves us too much to leave us where we are. I am in awe of this book of Proverbs. My entire life I have used it as a quick reference to back up an argument.  The richness, and depth, that we are finding staggers my paradigms of God. He loved us this much that He laid out a manual for living! I love the imagery of Solomon and how He captures me with his visual word paintings. To “capture someone with her eyelashes” – beautiful, powerful images caress and tantalize our imaginations- evoking images that beg to be put on paper. I love that we are doing this study together and uncovering Wisdom in all of her beauty, and capturing the process through paint and pen.
We are back into the subject of adultery and sin.  Sin that is thought through and acted on- surely it will bring death. Sin festers within, holding us in bondage.  Christ came so that we might live abundant lives. When we turn from that abundant life, the wages of sin are death- physical, mental, spiritual death – where hope is gone and despair is a companion. When we play with sin- we think we can get away with it, control it – manipulate it to our will. We can’t.  Whatever it is, it will become bigger than we can handle and it will own us.  Play with fire and you get burned. Scoop heaping coals on your lap and you will get burned.  Walk on hot coals and you will get blisters. There may be something that you are playing with that is going to burn you.  I would ask you today to turn it over to Christ and allow His light into that darkness.  You  may feel the beginning of the blisters, and the heat of the burn…give it over to Him today and allow His grace and truth be your balm.  There is always life through Christ- there is always hope in the balm of repentance. You can never fall too far, or be out of sight of God.  He sits and waits on the front porch, waiting for His prodigal daughter to come home to Him. Perhaps today is the day you  will return to your first love?