Proverbs 5:15-18

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. ¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? ¹⁷Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. ¹⁸May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

Borrow

Have you ever experienced it when others borrowed items from you? But, they returned items different from what you gave them? For instance, you gave them a new 12-foot long ladder, but they returned an old 6-foot long ladder.

If that foul play happened to you personally, how did you react? Were you upset and angry? It is good to be kind, but it is not guaranteed that your kindness will be reciprocated or repaid with similar kindness. Should you stop being kind?

It’s a dilemma for Christians to be kind and smart. Kindness produced by the Holy Spirit includes joyful peace, no matter how recipients may respond. But if you sense pressure to show kindness for the sake of Christian testimony, and if kindness is not a fruit of the Holy Spirit, it won’t be effective testimony for sure.

God commands but won’t pressure us to be kind. Kindness as fruit of the Holy Spirit of God includes love, joy and peace; it won’t bother us when recipients won’t appreciate our kindness. It is a smart lifestyle to be prayerful and seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Kindness testifies to the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

To be inspired by the Holy Spirit is essential to our testimony. John 16:13 says, ¹³The Spirit of truth… will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

The Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit of Christ, the way, the truth and the life. He guides our decision when showing kindness. We need godly wisdom to be smart when showing kindness to avoid confusion. There are things to be shared with others; there are things that are exclusively for personal use only.

It’s not heartless; it’s smartness. You don’t share with others your personal password for sensitive accounts. Home security system should be known by your household only. And relationship of married couples is exclusive for them only.

Can marriage be compared to spring water from privately owned well or cistern?

1.  Spring

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. ¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

A cistern is an open pit on the ground where rain water is gathered. Water in a cistern may overflow during heavy rainfall or much water from higher ground.

It is also possible that water from a well may overflow, not just during heavy rainfall. When a well is situated at the foot of the mountain, underground stream of water may flow and come out of the well. Underground pressure may push water up above the ground. It may even spurt, burst or gush out like geyser.

            Anyway, Proverbs chapter 5 teaches lessons about sexual immorality. And this godly command to drink from own cistern or well is suddenly inserted, why? This command “To drink from your own cistern or well” is a figure of speech. “Cistern or well” is compared to wife. It means, just as water satisfies the thirsty, husbands have contentment in sexual relationship with their wife.

Figure of speech is sensible way to accommodate conservative mindsets. It caters to young minds that are not prepared, just yet, to hear sensitive issues or sexual topics. Intentionally, figurative language is a smart strategy and challenges serious learners to dig deeper into the lesson. Moreover, figure of speech may attract simple mindedness also to be interested in the topic somehow.

So what does it mean when it says, “springs overflow in the streets; streams of water in the public squares?” Springs or streams that overflow from the cistern are interpreted as children from sexual relationship. It rhetorically asked fathers, how they may react when they know that they have children from strangers.

Trap

A number of preachers have fallen into the trap of sexual immorality. What does it imply? If great personalities can fall into the trap of sexual immorality, ordinary Christians could be vulnerable. not immune nor exempted. No social status is invincible. Everyone, rich or poor can be tempted and fall into sexual immorality. Many politicians have failed to win the election when strangers accused them that they have fathered children from outside their legal marriage.

It’s not very admirable for political leaders to have children from strangers, right?

2.  Stranger

¹⁷Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. ¹⁸May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

The pronoun “them” pertains to children. The term “fountain” pertains to wife. When the wife is happy, the husband is happy, the family is happy. It is best for the family when blessed wives rejoice. Do you agree? Can you believe it?

If the wife is gloomy, the husband will be gloomy, the family is gloomy.

Sarah

Let’s learn from the story of Abraham when his wife Sarah was not happy.

How do interpret what it narrated in Genesis 21:9-13? ⁹Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, ¹⁰and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” ¹¹The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. ¹²But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. ¹³I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

 If you were Sarah, and your very young son is ridiculed by other children, how do you feel? It did not mention how Sarah felt when her very young son was mocked by Ishmael. She must have been very upset and not happy about it for sure, when her very young son Isaac had been mocked by Ishmael.

Previously, when Hagar was pregnant she disrespected Sarah for not having a child. Hagar did nothing when her son Ishmael was making fun of Isaac. It’s also possible that, she gave her consent to the naughtiness of Ishmael. Abraham may have seen what happened but he did nothing. But when his wife Sarah told him what to do, he was greatly distressed. Abraham did what his wife Sarah told him because the Lord sided with Sarah. He sent away his son Ishmael and Hagar.

Abraham himself discovered it that: To have a happy wife is a biblical open-secret of happy relationship of husband and wife and also happy family. Husbands are advised in 1 Peter 3:7, ⁷Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

What does it imply? Husbands may have wonderful plan for his family and pray for blessing from the Lord. Certainly, you want your prayers to be answered.

Listen carefully husbands or future husbands: The answer of God to your prayers depends on how you treat your wife.

You want your prayers to be granted, then bless your wife to rejoice.

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

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