- 3R Thursday
- Posts
- 3R THURSDAY: Solomon's Paradox and the Pixelated Woman
3R THURSDAY: Solomon's Paradox and the Pixelated Woman
Follow Godly wisdom.
Cole F. Watson
July 27, 2023
F
What is 3R Thursday?
3R Thursday is a newsletter published every Thursday that contains ruminations, reflections, and readings to encourage Christians in the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.
Rather listen to this on Spotify or Apple Podcasts? Please do!
Rather read online? You got it.
Now on to today’s piece 🤝
3R THURSDAY: Solomon’s Paradox and the Pixelated Woman
Rumination
My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol;
she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
and you say, “How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”
Reflection
Solomon is known as being one of the wisest and richest men in history.
Christians have reflected on his proverbs much like Stoics have studied the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
Yet for all of Solomon’s wisdom, he did heed his own advice and stay away from the “forbidden woman.” See 1 Kings 11.
This is known as Solomon’s Paradox: he gave great advice to his sons about the “forbidden woman” but did not follow his own advice, which ultimately destroyed his kingdom.
In some ways, we should want to be like Solomon. For example, praying for Godly wisdom, direction, and discernment. See 1 Kings 3.
In other ways, we should not want to be like him. For example, going to the “forbidden woman.”
Be like Solomon and pray for wisdom. But don’t be like Solomon and ignore the wisdom God provides.
In today’s pornified culture, the “forbidden woman” is also the Pixelated Woman. After all, those images that flood every corner of the internet are nothing more than pixels on our screen arranged in a certain way that distorts our perception of Beauty. We think that’s what we want, but such desires our of the flesh—not of the spirit.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
…
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
…
[W]alk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Christian men may think they would never “go near the door of her house”—but do we actively pray that the Lord would discipline us?
Are we “attentive to His wisdom?”
Do we “incline our ears to His understanding?”
Do we “keep discretion” and “guard knowledge?”
Do we allow our brothers to hold us accountable and offer reproof?
Do we encourage and build up younger men?
Or do we keep repeating the same cycle, month over month, year after year?
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
and he ponders all his paths.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.
What wisdom and advice does your younger self need to hear? Exhort and encourage younger men in the faith with such advice.
What wisdom and advice does your current self need to hear? Listen and follow accordingly.
Brothers, I pray that we would continue fighting the good fight and pursue Christ in all that we do. I pray that we would not allow the enemy to distort reality and convince us that Pixelated Women are anything more than “wormwood.” I pray that we would love our wives as Christ loves the Church and never depart from the wisdom of God.
Reading
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Mere Christendom by Douglas Wilson
This week’s 3R Thursday is presented by Rise & Build Academy.
If you know of a 10-12th grade student that is interested in law, I am teaching a class this fall entitled FOUNDATIONS OF LAW FROM A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW.
More information can be found at Rise & Build Academy.
The introductory lecture can be found here.
You can now listen to 3R Thursday on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
Please share with all your friends!