Read
Don't Be Foolish
1 My child, suppose you agree
to pay the debt of someone,
who cannot repay a loan.
2Then you are trapped
by your own words,
3and you are now in the power
of someone else.
Here is what you should do:
Go and beg for permission
to call off the agreement.
4Do this before you fall asleep
or even get sleepy.
5Save yourself, just as a deer
or a bird tries to escape
from a hunter.
Reflect
There is a place and a need for humility in our lives. We are all liable to get ourselves into difficult places from time to time, places that require us to bow our heads and perhaps even bend our knees and swallow a large dose of humility. It’s not easy to do because pride is predominant in our human nature. No one wants to admit failure or weakness or defeat. No one wants to admit to needing help. But humility can go a long way to restoring us to our rightful place before God.
The writer of these verses in Proverbs 6 paints the picture of a fleeing deer and a frightened bird. We don’t like to see ourselves this way, but it is an apt description of someone who is not under the protection of Christ. Anyone without that protection is like a helpless victim fleeing from an enemy who wants only his destruction, an enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1Peter 5:8).
None of us can come to God without humility. Until we recognize and acknowledge our true nature and our place before an all powerful God, we will not accept the sacrifice he offers us. Without humility there is no need to accept the salvation of the Christ. It is humility that causes us to cry out to God, to seek him with all our strength and all our heart. May we all find ourselves in that place.
Respond
Heavenly Father, we bow our heads before you and admit our need of you. We acknowledge the weakness in our nature that pulls us away from your path and your protection. Thank you that we can accept that protection simply by crying out to you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Marcia Lee Laycock
Marcia Lee Laycock is an award-winning writer and sought-after speaker. Having lived a few kilometers from the Arctic Circle, and two degrees off the Equator, her writing draws from a rich field of experiences. Marcia was the winner of the Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone, and she now has four devotional books and a fantasy series in print, which have also garnered awards. Marcia lives in central Alberta with her pastor husband. They have three grown daughters and two huge Great Dane grand-puppies.