“The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside, I will be killed in the streets. The mouth of a forbidden woman is a deep pit; he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.” – Proverbs 22:13-15
The Lion
Laziness. The sluggard doesn’t want to work so he makes an excuse not to go outside. His real threat isn’t without, but within. The lion in the street is nothing compared to the laziness of his heart. Listen to his “testimony”. “I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 24:30-34). The lion will not kill the sluggard, his laziness will. “As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth” (Proverbs 26:14-15). For the sluggard, the only things working are his imagination and his “hinge”. Neither one will put food on his table.
The “Witch”
Indiscretion. Beware of the forbidden “strange” woman who bewitches with her evil words. Her words are seductive. Her words are enchanting. Her words are dangerous. While the lion roars, the witch whispers “smooth words”. Words of invitation. Words of entrapment. Those that accede end up in her trap. A deep pit. Once you fall in how do you get out? Listen to her “testimony”? “Her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life.” “A prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.” “A companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.” (Proverbs 2:18-19, 23:27-28, 29:3). Indiscretion comes with a heavy price tag. The path of life is abandoned. Wealth is squandered. The lion in the street may be not real, however, the streets are lined with forbidden women. Discretion is a necessary companion to protect us from the deep pits.
The Worn Rod
Discipline. Parental responsibility. What vivid reminders we have as parents and protectors, “To give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth” (Proverbs 1:3-4). Proverbs one also tells us that our instructions are necessary to combat the enticement of sinners. Listen to Proverbs 2, “Wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul: discretion will watch over you, delivering you from the way of evil…So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth word..so you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.” But we must remove the folly from the heart. The sluggard needs to be rebuked, the indiscreet enlightened, but our objective as parents is to purge any such inclinations when our children our young. “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol” (Proverbs 23:13-14). “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother…Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart” (Proverbs 15,17).
As Christians, our lives should be characterized by intentionality. Complacency isn’t an option. Ours is the responsibility to discipline and instruct. The nettles in the field and the squandered wealth may be indicators of our shortcomings as stewards over those God has entrusted to us. If we want our children to “walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous,” we may need the rod to drive away the lion and protect them from the “witch” and her smooth words. Before we can protect them from the dangers without, we must “purge” them of the dangers within. Sometimes the rod is necessary not only to guide their steps but to guard their souls. Discipline isn’t pleasant. Nor is it easy. But it is necessary and it is wise. Our Heavenly Father not only commands it, He models it. What could be wiser than learning from Him? The lion in the street and the forbidden woman are no matches for His wisdom.
“My son, do not despise the LORD’S discipline or be weary of His reproof, For the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” – Proverbs 3:11-12
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when hs is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
“Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know.” C.S. Lewis – The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe