I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 5-8.

The writer warns against immoral women.  One can easily get caught up in the fact that his comments about sexual promiscuity focus on immoral women, but one must remember that his target audience was men.  As I read the passage today it reminded me of a few women I have encountered, but I know just as many men who behave that way towards women (and one or two who do so towards other men).  The advice given here is valuable.  If you allow yourself to get sucked in by sexually promiscuous people, it will ruin your life.  It may be flattering when such a person takes interest in you.  You may feel a certain excitement from considering following up on their attention.  You might even get some transitory pleasure from such an encounter.  But sooner or later such behavior will destroy your soul, and maybe even your life.  On the other hand, if you make a commitment to one other person and stick with it throughout your life, the joy, pleasure, and contentment will last as well.

The writer anthropomorphizes (makes it seem to be a person)  wisdom several times throughout this book.  As an aside I want to note that when he does so he makes it a woman.  He uses the metaphor that wisdom is a person to make it clear that finding wisdom is not hard.  Wisdom is there for the taking for anyone who wishes.  The writer lays out the characteristics of wisdom for those who do not know what to look for.  Wisdom is not devious or deceptive and neither are those who possess it.  If you seek wisdom, you will find it, but all too often we turn aside from wisdom for things we value that are of less worth.  Some turn aside from wisdom for the promise of wealth, others for sexual pleasure, and still others allow their pride and arrogance to direct them away from wisdom.  Wisdom is progressive in that if you do the simple, plain, and obvious things which wisdom directs you will gain new insight into the wise course through more complex situations.