There was a poster that hung on the wall of one university’s weight room. It illustrated the importance of living a disciplined life. It shows a man straining to lift a weight, sweat fairly bursting from a grimacing face, veins bulging on his neck. The caption reads: “There are two kinds of pain: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.” According to Solomon, this is most specifically true regarding sexual purity. Chapter five of Proverbs deals with the issue of adultery. Solomon warns his son that nothing good will ever come from it in the long run. He speaks to his son and pleads with him to reserve his activity with his wife only. If you are promiscuous, he says, if you don’t discipline your sexual appetite, you will live to regret it. Verses 11 & 12 of chapter five say if you don’t practice discipline in this area specifically, “At the end of your life, you will lament when your physical body has been consumed, and you will say, how I hated discipline, and how my heart despised correction.”
According to a Reuters report from Stockholm, Sweden has long ago arrived at complete sexual freedom and liberty. Parents quite accept old-fashioned fornication as normal for their youngsters. It is reported that only 5% of the girls and 2% of the boys go with their purity to the marriage altar. Is this moral deterioration reflected in Sweden’s having the highest percentage of suicides of any country in the world? According to Akin, adultery and sexual promiscuity are one of those little foxes that will steal the good things from your life without you noticing it right away. He talks about, like Solomon, not falling for the little advances from the opposite sex that lure you into the trap of sexual sin. He says, “These are just a few of the foxes that open the door to an affair, to adultery. It comes about slowly, over time, almost without notice. It is a deadly and devastating fox that will take you where you don’t want to go and cost you so much more than you want to pay. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Run from sexual immorality.” Wiser words have never been written.”[1]
Sex is like a fire. If you keep it in the bounds of a fireplace or furnace, it can keep you warm and safe. On the other hand, if it’s allowed to have its way freely, it will wipe out everything in its path. Deborah Ogans says, on her website, under the title of “Proverbs Daily Devotionals,” “Sex outside of marriage is like fire outside of a fireplace. It is dangerous and will burn your house down!”[2] Solomon encourages his son to enjoy the God-given gift of sex within the fireplace of marriage. He then warns of the dangers of letting the fire burn out of control. Solomon, in essence, tells his son that there are two kinds of pain—the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.
[1] Akin, Daniel L. 2015. Exalting Jesus in Song of Songs. Edited by Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.
[2] Quote by DeBorrah K. Ogans: “Sex outside of marriage is like fire outside of…” (goodreads.com)