Pro 7:1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

We see that in the book of Proverbs, the author’s greatest concern was sexual sin. It is one sin he kept repeating and warning his son about. It shows how heinous this sin is. Solomon, the author of this book, was himself a victim of sexual sin; he did not want his son to repeat his mistake. In this chapter, Solomon says that he saw a young man, one of the simple youths, walking around the streets at night, looking for sex. Then, a woman came toward him, dressed like a crafty prostitute. Solomon says: “With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter” (v.21, 22a). That young man followed her like an ox headed to a slaughterhouse. It means stupidity; he did not know what he was in for. Solomon warns his son not to follow that young man's example. He says adulteresses like that woman have ruined many young men, and her house leads to the underworld, Sheol, and to death (v.24-27). Why did that young man fail to overcome temptation? The answer lies in verse 1: “My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.” What things are involved in keeping the commandments? Solomon says: “Write them upon the table of thine heart” (v.3b). The commandments are only good when they are in the heart. We all have head knowledge about the word of God. We know what sin is. We know what things we must avoid. We know we must not steal or commit adultery. Yet, why do some fail? The reason is simple: they do not apply the commandments to the heart. Solomon says we are to keep the commandments as the apple of our eyes (v.2). The phrase “apple of your eye” refers to the pupil of the eye. We cannot bear the smallest speck of dust in the eye. The slightest wound is most painful. We protect our eyes because they are valuable to us, and so we should value and protect God’s Word like we value and protect our eyes. The great temptation facing most young men is to discount their father’s advice; they do not value their warnings. They think their fathers are out of touch with the world, that their fathers overstate the danger, that their fathers are depriving them of pleasure. Solomon said of his own experience: “I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live” (Proverbs 4:3, 4). Obviously, Solomon’s father, David, had warned him about adulterous women. But apparently Solomon did not take heed (1 Kings 11:1-3). We know he repented later in his life and wrote the book of Proverbs warning young men about sexual sins. Young men and women, will you take heed to the commandments? Are you keeping them in your heart?  Young men, wear your wedding ring so the women that pass by your life know you are out of bound. Place your wife’s photo as the wallpaper on your handphone so that other women know you have eyes only for your wife. We have a heavenly Father. He has given His commandments and law to us. Are we keeping them as the apple of our eyes? Do we meditate on His precepts daily? Are we keeping His commandments in our hearts that we might not sin against Him? (Psalm 119:11) God has spoken; are we listening? Do not be like the foolish son of Proverbs 7.