Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. ~Proverbs 5:3–4
The other day, while I was walking the thirteen-and-a-half miles between gate 4 and gate 39 at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, I bumped into Larry. We only spoke for a minute. We hadn’t seen each other for several years, but under the circumstances, there wasn’t that much to say.
To put it bluntly, Larry was, at one point in his life, a wild-eyed, nostril-flaring sex maniac. His record of extramarital exploits was as manifold as the “Smiths” in the white pages of your city’s website. He seduced women from all walks of life: from babysitters to a woman in an airplane bathroom. Incredibly, this had been a complete mystery to those of us who thought we knew him, especially his wife and four children.
Late one night I received a phone call from a mutual friend. “I’ve just heard that Larry tried to seduce a woman in Phoenix,” was the first thing I heard after he apologized for waking me up. “Please go talk to him and see what’s going on.”
The next day I was on a plane to visit with Larry. Line by line I spelled out the accusations, and line by line he denied each one. One month later, more information was brought to my attention, and once again I flew to visit with my friend. Predictably, he classified the allegations as ugly rumors. Wanting with all my heart to believe Larry, I got back on the plane and flew home.
In two weeks Larry’s wife called. Suspicious of Larry’s behavior, she had decided to do some investigating of her own. Tragically, her intelligence work uncovered decades of her husband’s gross unfaithfulness. There was no doubt about it. I paid Larry one more visit. This time, however, I was armed with a letter from his wife, chronicling the truth she had discovered—unexplainable phone bills, unfamiliar contraceptives in his office, and even confessions from some of Larry’s victims. She ordered him out of the house, and because Larry still would not take any responsibility for his actions, one year later the divorce was final.
The words in this proverb ought to burn their way into our conscious mind like butter melting on a sizzling skillet. “Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey . . . in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood” (vv. 3–4). For most of his exploits, Larry had been the one to seduce these others, and his victims—and Larry himself—paid the price.
Seeing Larry at DFW was a stunning thing. He looked twenty years older than the last time I had seen him, just a few years ago—thirty pounds heavier but with a face that looked gaunt and drawn. The inescapable consequences of his lurid life had taken a predictable and visible toll.
“Larry, I haven’t seen you for so long. How are you?” was all I said “Fine, just fine,” was his steely reply. With no hint of warmth, repentance, remorse, or regret, Larry had said all he was going to say.
We stood there for a silent moment, then hustled off in opposite directions to meet our waiting airplanes. Unfaithfulness - 1, Larry - 0.