Life is full of choices. One of them is whether we want to submit to temptation and our lusts or instead submit ourselves to God and resist the temptation. One of the things that becomes an unavoidable temptation is adultery. The intimate relationship between a man and a woman is reduced to a mere gratification of lust. Often in various situations, the ruined aspect of life that results from such an act is unavoidable. So vigilance against it should be a necessity for believers.

This time Proverbs is written in the context of the Teacher of Wisdom's advice to his disciple. He desires that what he teaches be kept and held as one would the apple of his eye. Hikmat is positioned as a brother, more precisely a sister, which is a natural greeting for a bride or wife. Through this sentence, the wisdom teacher encourages his young disciple to put wisdom in the position of a bride or a much-loved wife. The personification is deliberate, as the wisdom teacher's instructions will then be contrasted with the temptations of the whore who brings destruction.

Wisdom teaches a young man based on observations of the phenomena he sees from the window of his house. Pointing out that the phenomenon he observed was a frequent occurrence. He saw a prostitute seducing a young man. This young man was not evil but lacked manners and did not know himself. He is a representation of a person who likes to be in the grey zone of morality, when the boundaries of light and darkness begin to blur. So he is easily seduced by the prostitute's words, even carrying religious symbols in an attempt to gain sympathy. The woman offers worldly pleasures. A kind of adrenaline rush due to infidelity wrapped in undue glorification of lust. So do not succumb to such temptation, says the wisdom. It will lead to death and destruction, contrary to the way of wisdom that will give birth to life.

Friends of the Bible, today how we see that the word of God truly greets every person in real distress and temptation. One of them is the temptation of adultery which ranges faced by men and women. Through today's word we are reminded that adultery seems to bring us offers of pleasure and liberation, but in fact it is false and leads to destruction. So strive to live righteously before God. Maintain the holiness of our relationships and our lives. The two are actually intertwined, just as wisdom teaches us to live wisely and uphold virtue.

Today's modern society is characterised by individualism, which eliminates empathy between fellow human beings. Each person fights for their own interests even to the point of sacrificing others. Other people are often seen as mere means to an end. As people of faith, it is only fitting that we show a different perspective and lifestyle.

In our reading this time, we are shown the wicked and the guilty who commit many frauds and crimes in life. The paths they choose are so tortuous as if they are trying to escape from the wrongs they have done. One of the markers of the wicked is that they are so close to evil that they have no compassion for others.

God wants truth and justice to be realised in our daily lives. Doing justice and righteousness is more pleasing to God than sacrifice. This is not to say that human rituals and acts of worship are not important, but if they are done only as a formality without changing the practice of life, then they are pointless.

Therefore, in the midst of a world that is so unempathetic and full of injustice, believers are invited to manifest empathy and justice in their steps. This call should be realised in our daily lives. Wisdom leads us to do justice and empathise with others. That is where God's love and wisdom come from.