[The adulteress] is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks (Proverbs 7:11-12).

I used to look at my wedding night as if it were some sort of finish line.  "If only I can make it until then," I thought to myself, "all my sexual frustrations and temptations will go away."  In my youthful naivete, I believed that marriage would solve everything -- that having a healthy outlet for my sexuality (with a really amazing, really beautiful woman such as my wife) would make it easy to maintain pure thoughts and actions.  I figured I would never have to deal with that stuff again...

Suffice to say, I was an idiot.

My problems with lust and sexual "idolatry" didn't just go away when I got married.  In some ways, the wedding night became more of a starting line than a finishing line.  In the early days of my marriage, my problems actually intensified -- because I had to break myself from my selfish ways of thinking about sex and adjust my unhealthy, over-inflated expectations to the realities of a life-long partnership with the woman that I love.  About six months into marriage, all of these temptations and sinful patterns rolled back on me with a vengeance.  Praise God it never got back to the point of actually consorting with an "adulteress" or a "wayward wife" -- but even so, it was discouraging to realize that sexual temptation was never going to leave me.  It's all around me:  now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner temptation lurks.  It took me awhile to come to terms with this.  In time, thanks to God and my very understanding wife, I was able to come to a place of health and awareness, where I could deal with the ongoing temptations in a better way.  I'd like to say that I found a magical sense of understanding that allowed temptation to fall to the wayside.  But in truth, a significant part of "getting better" was coming to this realization and acceptance that it's never really going to get better!

This is so effectively summarized in Proverbs 7:11-12.  The problem is persistent.  It's loud and defiant -- never listening to reason, and often trying to simply ratchet up the pressure higher and higher.  It never sits in one place:  it follows you around regardless of your geographic location or station in life.  It lurks in every corner, waiting to snag you if you're not looking out for it.  So the best prevention is to remain vigilent, wary even.  You'll never get over it, really.  Even if you get married... even if you and your spouse enjoy passionate, perfect sex 20 times a day... even if you get older and your hormonal impulses diminish... even if you're walking closely with God... you'll never cross a finish line in this area, until you get to heaven.  This doesn't necessarily have to lead to defeatism.  Victory is absolutely possible!  We've just got to be wise about it.  Proverbs 5, 6, and 7 can be a great part of keeping us mindful of this wisdom -- but ultimately, we have to carry it with us wherever we go, because we never know exactly when or where the temptation will strike.