DAILY TEXT, Friday, October 16, 2026. Do not let your heart stray to her ways. Do not get lost on her paths (Prov. 7:25).

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Friday, October 16, 2026

Do not let your heart stray to her ways. Do not get lost on her paths (Prov. 7:25).

Any servant of Jehovah could experience something similar to what happened to the young man in Solomon’s account. He might commit a serious sin and then feel as though it all happened suddenly. He might say, “I don’t know how it could have happened.” Even so, if he looks back, he will likely discover that he took a series of steps that led him into temptation. Perhaps he associated with the wrong people, chose inappropriate entertainment, or frequented undesirable places, whether in the physical world or online. He may also have stopped praying, reading the Bible, attending meetings, or going out in the ministry. As with the young man in Proverbs, it is likely that it did not all happen suddenly.

The lesson? It is not enough to avoid sin; we must also avoid taking the steps that lead us down the wrong path. That is precisely what Solomon explained after relating the account (Matt. 5:29, 30). w24.07 16 pars. 10, 11

If we don't want to commit a sin, what should we do?

It is not enough to avoid sin; we must also avoid taking the steps that lead us down the wrong path. This is precisely what Solomon explained after relating the story of the young man and the immoral woman. Referring to her, he said: “Do not go astray by her ways” (Prov. 7:25). He also advised: “Keep far from her and do not go near the entrance to her house” (Prov. 5:3, 8). Simply put, if we do not want to commit a sin, we must stay away from anything that could lead us to commit it. This may include avoiding certain situations or activities that are not generally considered wrong by Christians but that we know could lead us into temptation (Matt. 5:29, 30).

What decision did Job make, and how would it help him to stay on his guard? (Job 31:1).

If we want to avoid situations that could lead us to sin, we can imitate Job’s example. In order never to look inappropriately at other women, he made a firm decision within himself. He said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes” (read Job 31:1). Keeping that covenant helped him never to commit adultery. We too can make a firm decision within ourselves not to do anything that could lead us into temptation.

Why should we be careful about what we think?

We must also be careful about our thoughts (Ex. 20:17). Some say it's okay to imagine doing bad things, as long as we don't actually do them. But they are very wrong. The more we think about doing something wrong, the more we will want to do it. In a sense, we are setting ourselves up for a temptation that we will now have to resist. Of course, sometimes bad thoughts will come on their own. What should we do in that case? Reject them immediately and replace them with good thoughts. In this way, we prevent bad thoughts from growing into intense desires, which are difficult to resist and can lead us to commit serious sin (Phil. 4:8; Col. 3:2; Jas. 1:13-15).

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