Proverbs 5:15-20
Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress.
I debated this morning how much of the above text to include for our reading since it is a bit too descriptive. Since God in His wisdom chose that this is what would be written, then I stand on good ground in both posting this passage and expounding on the subject. The beauty about this text is that it speaks of the whole area of intimacy in language that we rarely do. It actually paints sexual union as a glorious thing. Usually, when conversations like these are heard, they are addressed to single young people with only a warning, ‘Don’t do it! It is bad for you.’ However, we must have a balanced conversation on this matter just as the Scriptures do.
The first thing to note is that intimacy is God’s idea. It is God that created the gift of sex when He said it is not good for man to be alone. Because it is His idea, then like everything else He created it is good. However, it must be experienced and expressed according to God’s design. He created it to be enjoyed within the union of marriage and outside of this a good gift becomes disastrous. That is the wisdom from the Proverbs. Unfortunately, we live in a hypersexualised society, and we have completely degraded this gift. Yet if we are to please God and find true pleasure in it, then the marriage bed must be kept pure (Hebrews 13:4).
To achieve the above, those who would enjoy this gift must get married (1 Corinthians 7:9). It is unwise to intentionally and unnecessarily delay marriage when it is within your power to marry. Those who are married should joyfully give to and receive from each other this gift (1 Corinthians 7:5). Those who are unmarried should abstain from all forms of sexual expression and experience. They should, rather, continually entrust themselves to Christ, who is our ultimate pleasure. Like many other gifts that we receive from God, this one is only temporary and to be enjoyed in this present world. We should be careful not to allow for it to jeopardise our eternity. There have been inventions to try protect the individual from the natural dangers of illicit affairs but as a wise pastor once advised in a sermon:
“You may think that by using protection you are safe, but what will protect your soul from the danger of hell?”
Reflections
1. Examine your life in view of the above. Are you pleasing God?
