Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.  Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?  Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers (Proverbs 5:15-17).

My wife's family has a farm that's been in the family since the middle of the 19th Century.  It has its own freshwater well and rainwater cistern.  I'm not just speaking metaphorically; the well and the cistern are very real -- and they're very diligently guarded by the matriarch of the family:  Marci's Grandma, my grandmother-in-law.  She's constantly concerned that they're going to run out of water -- especially cistern water, which is used for the washing.  If anyone wastes even a tablespoon of water while washing dishes, or if anyone lingers in the shower for an extra 30 seconds, Grandma will certainly have something to say about it.  She grew up during the Great Depression and has developed an almost pathological frugality in almost everything she does; but I figure it's her family's farm, so she ought to be able to run things the way she sees fit.  It's her cistern.  It's her well.

It's interesting to note, however, that the Bible's instructions for sexuality have some significant differences from Grandma's standards for water management.  Sure, both resources are considered sacred and accordingly guarded; but the biggest distinction from Grandma's cistern and the "cistern" of our God-given sexuality is the invitation to drink.  With the water at Grandma's farm, the implicit message is "Don't use" or "Don't drink."  And while many have (mistakenly) assumed that the godly view of sexuality is similar, Proverbs 5:15-17 actually expresses quite the opposite sentiment:  "Drink!" it says.  This "drinking" is designed for a specific context, of course -- but within that context, it's not only allowed, it's encouraged!

As long as the context is taken into account, this embrace of sexual pleasure can be unashamed and absolute.  Within marriage, sex is great!  Outside of marriage, however, it's foolish.  Nonsensical, even.  It would be like Grandma having a fire hydrant installed on the barn bank (even though fire hydrants are very unusual in the rural areas of Ohio where the family farm is located) -- just so she could crank it open and spray down the passing traffic, just for the heck of it.  Totally absurd.  Most of us in the family would agree that Grandma could relax her restrictions on water usage a little bit; but should our springs overflow in the streets, or streams of water in the public squares?  I should hope not.