My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

The Holy Bible : Today’s New International Version. 2005 (Pr 7:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

COMMENT:

The author of Proverbs argues that wisdom will protect a person from an adulterous affair; certainly it is wisdom to do so. Sin is stupidity; it is a failure to recognize what is truly in one’s own best interests. The pleasure of today–or the moment–can all too easily keep one from recognizing the long term deleterious consequences of an action.

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