Just Like Kudzu

Never heard of it? Neither had I until we moved to the south seven years ago.

Now I see it daily. It's beautiful, lush, and green, green, green--A stunning sight for a valley girl from California.

But it turns out there's a lot more to kudzu than meets the eye. You see, like a creeping vine, it wraps itself around trees and plants, covering them with its beauty. But what's going on underneath is the choking out of the life of what's beneath it. It prevents the sun's light from reaching and nourishing what desperately needs it to be sustained. One website said kudzu is "deceptive about its true yield, especially to those who do not know it well."

Every month I read through Proverbs, one chapter a day. So every 5th, 6th, and 7th of the month I read through Proverbs 5, 6, and 7. And so over the months and years I've come to know a certain woman described in these three consecutive chapters...

...A woman who is a lot like kudzu.

Pleasing to the eye. Seemingly verdant. And ultimately, extraordinarily dangerous.

It's said her lips drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil. She is captivating and beautiful.

And then she's persuasive and seductive. And, for comparison's sake, deceptive about her true yield.

And then once one is close enough to see her well, she is revealed for who she is:

Bitter. Sharp. Thoughtless. Cruel. Predator. Loud. Defiant. Full of crafty intent. Lurking. Brazen.

And by the time he sees it all for what it is, the object of her pursuit finds himself

Groaning. Spent. Corrected. Disciplined. Ensnared. Led astray. Burned. Scorched. Punished. Destroyed. Required to pay. Shamed. Like an ox going to his slaughter. On a highway to death.

Lord Jesus, have mercy. This scenario is rampant, and real, and no one is above temptation. Strengthen your daughters to be pure and to sincerely want what glorifies You. And protect Your sons from women with impure intent. There's just way too high a price to pay.