Proverb for the Day 7:10 — Frontin’ vs. Keepin’ It 100!

Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

This is the second character of an extended poetic wise saying Solomon shared with his son (:6-23). It’s a woman “dressed like a prostitute and with craft intent” who came out to meet a young man Solomon saw through his window (:6-7).

In this verse, two things are noted about this woman – something external and something internal. The external fact is that she appeared in public dressed like a prostitute.

While we are familiar with what that looks like today, we aren’t so certain how a prostitute dressed in Old Testament times. However she looked, it apparently identified her as an immoral woman of the streets. No doubt, this was a deliberate choice on her part to appear in public this way that evening (:9).

The second thing about this woman was internal – her heart. “Crafty intent” is literally “guarded” or “secret” in her heart. Sadly, this heart went along with her “brazen” (bold) face” (:13).

Thus her appearance and her attitude in this verse seem quite consistent. Yet, the full story would seem to suggest the rest of her life was quite different (see :16-20).

This woman was not only doing something inappropriate, she apparently was trying very hard to appear sometimes as something she really wasn’t. Guys as Helping Up Mission call this “fronting.”

While it might sound exciting to some, this isn’t really that much fun – and it’s exhausting. A commitment to being the same person all the time is actually easier, liberating and empowering!

HUM guys call this “keeping it 100!” While nobody’s perfect, a commitment to being Honest, Open and Willing (HOW) one day at a time will help keep us as close to 100 as possible.

It’s also the best way I know to be – as the complete Serenity Prayer says – “reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next!”