Many of us are well intentioned, save some moments of weakness.
Moments where we deliberately or inadvertently give into a desire, or lose our temper, and so tumble. Unfortunately, those fleeting moments can be the very ones that define our lives.
Proverbs 7 paints for us a picture of this process. We are introduced to a naive young man in the crowd. He elects for a path known to be perilous and no sooner finds himself ensnared. Enchanted by this woman and her promises, he ignorantly casts aside his future for the fleeting.
“Soon she has him eating out of her hand,
bewitched by her honeyed speech.
Before you know it, he’s trotting behind her,
like a calf led to the butcher shop,
Like a stag lured into ambush
and then shot with an arrow,
Like a bird flying into a net
not knowing that its flying life is over.”
Like the actions of the young man in the proverb, we have all made mistakes. In one way or another we've proceeded down a path we knew to be treacherous and ultimately been burnt. For relationships, reputations, and trust are tenuous concepts that can easily crumble. In order to thrive all three require constant guarding, tending, and focus. They punish the negligent as repercussions come regardless of premeditation.
But alas there is hope! Our author Solomon vehemently points us back towards wisdom and discipline. For when we align our lives with Lady Wisdom we are able to focus on the lasting vice the longing. Certainly forgiveness is available (I have yet to experience a day when it hasn't been necessary) but we aspire to move closer to the ideal daily. My hope is we can embrace the wisdom available and shed the lies of "just this once," and "it's not a big deal."