All at once, he [the youth who lacked judgment] followed her [the adulteress] like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life (Proverbs 7:22-23).

Again and again, the early chapters of the Proverbs remind us of the deadly dangers of adultery.  Knowing human nature, I suppose that just about anything is possible -- but it seems to me that a regular regimen of reading the Proverbs (i.e. a chpater a day, corresponding to the day of the month, thus ensuring a reading of Proverbs chapters 1 through 7 in the first week of every month) should make it difficult for someone to fall into sexual temptation when you're keeping firmly fixed to the wisdom of God as expressed in the Proverbs.  We're intelligent creatures!  We're not bird-brained.  We're not as dumb as oxen... Except for when sex is involved.

A man's fall into sexual temptation might be spontaneous -- a result of impulsivity.  Without any hint of premeditation, a situation might present itself.  Like a swallow darting across a meadow, an opportunity comes up, and a bad decision is made...

Or it may be that a man's fall into sexual temptation happens incrementally -- an almost unconscious progression through increasing levels of intimacy.  At first, the intentions might be completely innocent; only later, as things plod along from possibility to potentiality to probability to practicality -- like an ox slowly and deliberately working a field -- until the affair is initiated and the bad decision has been made...

It doesn't really matter what the circumstances or the methodology may be.  The root cause may be impulsivity or methodical plodding, but the end result is the same:  a sort of death.  Like an ox going to the slaughter... like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver... like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.  "But it's just two consenting adults," one might say.  "Why should we get ourselves so worked up about sex?"  And to these concerns, I would have to say that it's certainly quite contrary to our current cultural understanding of sexuality.  But at the same time, the consequences of adultery are very well-catalogued in history, literature, film, and personal experience -- to the point that we all do really know better.  We're not bird-brained, and we're not as dumb as oxen... except when sexual temptation is involved.

With the aid of regular reminders from the Proverbs, we can overcome these temptations.  Or of course we can ignore them... at our own peril.