“Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?”
Only a magician can do this and then it’s only a trick. Solomon is making the point that adultery comes with the same guarantee of being severely hurt as having an open flame in your lap and next to your chest. Like a magician if it seems to not affect the person they are only fooling others as well as themselves. There’s no good outcome to illicit, adulterous sexual behavior. This a sin that Solomon and much of the Bible spends significant time addressing. Not once is it talked of as good, ok or even neutral. There is no doubt God will forgive and even redeem ever sinful action but, there are always devastating consequences. Internal damage occurs if not external in the moment. Secular counselors try with great vigor to explain it away as ok and in some instances even good and healthy. They are completely wrong. When I was in the Counseling/Psychology program in graduate school I was awed by the degree of rationalization and mental and moral gymnastics used to make it seem ok. Again, they were wrong. This verse makes its case. There is no shortage of temptation in this area. Many lives are ruined daily by it. A broader truth from this verse is that every sin burns us on the inside and eventually, if not dealt with, takes a toll on the outside of a person and their relationships. As Joseph did, flee the very temptation. #BeTheEdge
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 NIV
